Latest News Update: Mar 20, 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Akhilesh reverses Mayawati's unique initiative

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/akhilesh-reverses-mayawatis-unique-initiative/240738-37-64.html

Politics News | Posted on Mar 19, 2012 at 11:42pm IST
Akhilesh reverses Mayawati's unique initiative
IANS

Lucknow: In a major decision, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav on Monday did away with the unique initiative of his predecessor
Mayawati wherein deputy inspector generals of police (DIGs) were
posted in the five biggest cities of the state, known as the KAVAL
cities.

The decision, expected from the day of the new government's swearing
in, was approved on Monday night after which the DIG regime was
abolished in Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow.

This would mean a reversal to the pre-2010 system where every
city/district had a senior superintendent of police (SSP), a group of
districts formed a range under a DIG and a number of ranges formed a
zone under an inspector general of police (IG).
Akhilesh reverses Mayawati's unique initiative

Since new DIGs have been posted in Lucknow and Kanpur, the government
would now have to scout for two news SSPs for the state's political
and commercial capitals respectively.

The government also removed the present ADG (Law and Order) Subesh
Kumar Singh and posted old time loyalist Jag Mohan Yadav in his place.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits lay siege to Social Welfare office

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/235787/dalits-lay-siege-social-welfare.html

Dalits lay siege to Social Welfare office
Chikkaballapur, Mar 19, 2012, DHNS :

The protesters want tainted officers transferred; Police remain mute spectators

Members of various Dalit association attempted to lock the office of
the Social Welfare as part of their protest in the City on Monday.

people power: Police try to restrain members of Dalit organisations
who attempted to lock the District Social Welfare office in
Chikkaballapur on Monday. (Above) Members of the Dalit organisations
block the road in the city in protest. dh photosThe protesters alleged
that the government and the district administration has neglected the
development work in the district.

Tension prevailed on the premises for a while. When the protest was
intensified, the police had to take control of the situation.

Police action

The police tried to prevent the protesters from locking the office,
following which the members of the association blocked the roads for
more than two hours which resulted in an extreme chaos.

The commuters fell prey to the situation as the chaos resulted in
traffic congestion, as the protesters refused to compromise on the
means of the protest.

Due to this, there was heavy police patrolling in an around the office.

Background

The City police tightened the security on the premises of Social
Welfare Office on Sunday acting on the information that the District
Vigilance Committee Dalit Sangharsha Samithi, Dalit Women's Union,
Dalit Student's Union and other associations are going to take out a
protest. Barricades were also erected.

On Monday,additional number of police personnel were deployed to
tackle the protesters who arrived at the spot beating drums as part of
their protest. After half an hour, they tried to barge into the
office, after which the police personnels took charge of the
situation.

Activists of the Dalit Sangharsh Samithi, K C Rajakantha and Venkatesh
put forward their demands and complaints. There was a tiff between the
police and the protesters.

The protesters were heard shouting slogans: "Unless the doors of the
office are locked, we will not withdraw the protest. The tainted
officers should be transferred at the earliest."

Traffic diversion

The police officials diverted the traffic to avoid congestion and
urged the protesters to withdraw the protest. When the protesters
failed to concede to the police orders, the matter was taken to the
senior officers of the district administration.

The protest was withdrawn after the Zilla Panchayat CEO B S
Shekharappa arrived at the spot and accepted the memorandum.

DySP M S Kakhandaki, Circle Inspector S Mahesh Kumar and other police
officials were present at the spot.

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[ZESTCaste] Tamil Dalit writing set to go English

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3013705.ece

CHENNAI, March 20, 2012
Tamil Dalit writing set to go English
B. Kolappan

From the fringes of literature to the portals of the Oxford University
Press (OUP), it has been a long march for Dalit writing in Tamil Nadu.
At a time when Dalit assertion is making itself heard in the political
sphere, the OUP is bringing out an anthology of English translations
of Tamil Dalit writing, seeking to give a clear picture of the
different phases of writing and activities of Dalits in the State over
a century.

The anthology, featuring the works of 40 writers, is divided into four
sections: poetry, fiction (short story and novel), drama and prose
(autobiography, speeches, biography and archival materials); and will
be released on April 10.

Along with Bama, whose novel Karukku portrayed Dalit life in the
authentic language of the people, Imayam, whose Koveru Kazhuthaikal
told the story of puthirai vannar (dhobies working for Dalits), K.A.
Gunasekaran, a writer and singer, former IAS officer P. Sivakami, Cho
Dharman, Azhagiya Periyavan, and many others writers, Dalit leaders
such as Dr. K. Krishnasamy, Thol Thirumavalavan and Athiyaman have
found a place in the collection.

"Being part of modern Tamil writing that has touched enviable heights
among Indian regional languages, Dalit writing, in terms of form,
content and aesthetics, has witnessed great literary achievements.
Moreover, Dalit writing in Tamil Nadu has a conscious political
continuity since the 19th century, when the political discourse of the
marginalised was dominated by scholars such as Pundit Iyothee Thass,
Rettamalai Srinivasan and M.C.Rajah," explains Ravikumar, former MLA
and one of the editors of the Anthology.

Pundit Iyothee Thass was a great Tamil scholar, who wrote commentaries
on classical Tamil literary works from a Buddhist point of view. "His
writings comprise all elements of modernity," points out Mr Ravikumar.

Pundit Iyothee Thass and Rettaimalai Srinivasan had run their own
magazines. The subscription of "Paraiyan" (1893-1900), a magazine run
by Srinivasan, enjoyed a circulation higher than mainstream magazines
and newspapers. The same was the case with Tamizhan (1907-1914) edited
by Iyothee Thass. If Srinivasan believed strongly in emancipation of
the depressed classes through political participation, the 1940s saw
the emergence of Swami Sahajananda, a staunch Saivite, who sought to
achieve the objective within the fold of Hindu religion.

"The pieces of literature selected for this anthology will show a
marked shift in the canon of Dalit literature that prioritises only a
subjective and confessional mode. These stories show a deep concern
about representing the function of caste as a mode of power and
foregrounds the challenges involved in writing creatively about it,"
says Mini Krishnan, Editor of OUP Translation.

Mr Ravikumar says all the 40 writers are Dalits by birth, while
explaining that the term 'Dalit' is not an identity, but a form of
'subjectivity'.

"Dalit is a consciously chosen ideological position against the caste
system. An untouchable alone can be a Dalit because caste defines a
person by birth. It is like feminist position. Every woman is not a
feminist, but only a woman can be a feminist," Mr. Ravikumar further
says.

Mini Krishnan notes that the prose aims not just to reconstruct the
history of century-old Dalit struggle in Tamil society, but to also
point out issues addressed by Dalit intellectuals.

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[ZESTCaste] Revert all dalit officials appointed on higher posts : SHSS to CM

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/lucknow/50666-revert-all-dalit-officials-appointed-on-higher-posts--shss-to-cm-.html

Revert all dalit officials appointed on higher posts : SHSS to CM

Sunday, 18 March 2012 20:51
Pioneer News Service | Lucknow

Reminding that it was time to deliver now, the Sarvjan Hitay
Sanrakshan Samiti (SHSS) on Sunday demanded chief minister to revert
all dalit officials which were appointed on higher posts in government
departments without following promotion procedure during Mayawati
regime.

Stressing that the promotions should based on seniority the SHSS has
urged filling of posts lying vacant in large numbers since several
years. If the new government acted accordingly it could trigger
agitation of dalit employees in the state.

To recall, following being pursued by the SHSS, an umbrella body of
backward and general category state government employees, Samajwadi
party had promised in its election manifesto to scrap the BSP
government's policy of quota in promotions. During previous
government, owing to this policy junior dalit officials were appointed
on higher posts which led to litigation and consequently promotions
were blocked in all major government departments.

In a letter to Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav the SHSS office bearers
said, the 16 lakh OBC and general category employees were angry as
they were deliberately denied promotions during five years of BSP rule
while much junior dalit employees were given postings on prime senior
positions. The arbitrary policy of BSP government had paralysed the
whole administrative set up by blocking promotions in major government
departments.

In PWD all three posts of chief engineer (level-1) and 17 posts of
chief engineer (level-2) were lying vacant. In UPPCL all 18 posts of
chief engineer (level-1) and out of 29 chief engineer (level-2) posts
28 were vacant since long. Similarly in Irrigation Department all 7
posts of chief engineer (level-1) and 12 posts of level-2 were vacant,
the SHSS office bearers said in the letter giving details of vacancies
in prominent government departments.

The SHSS general secretary, Shailendra Dubey said, the vacancies on
senior posts in major government departments have negatively effected
the development in state with administrative set up going defunct.

The appointment of junior dalit officials on senior posts have given
rise to corruption on large scale which should be stopped immediately.
Moreover these dalit officials had deliberately given bad entries in
ACRs of OBC and general category employees which needed to be
corrected under new government, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit cultural fete lacks zest

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article3011938.ece

MADURAI, March 19, 2012
Dalit cultural fete lacks zest
D. Karthikeyan

It was a shadow of its past editions as it has become a ritual

The 18 edition of the Dalit Cultural Festival 2012 held here at the
United Christian School Grounds on Saturday was just a shadow of its
past editions as the festival which was widely seen as an effort to
culturally devalorize the codes of dominant cultural discourses became
more of a ritual.

Dalit activists and thinkers who were present at the venue and who had
been part of the festival since its inception feel that the political
vigour that was associated with the festival is waning during the
recent years.

Dalit arts and performances along with Dalit literature in the early
1990s were found to be an important ingredient in the 'Dalit
Renaissance' that formed the Post-Ambedkar Centenary where Dalit
parties started to flourish questioning the Dravidian parties
'inclusive politics myth' and questioned their own marginality
vis-à-vis on the political sphere.

The usual zest attached to the festival where various art forms and
musical expressions would interlace a pattern where a touch of
antiquity, anger and assertion used to flow and throw into confusion
the existing hierarchical modes of cultural representations were
palpably missing.

Still the festival saw hard-hitting drum beats and powerful echoes of
brass horns intertwined with tireless beating of Parai enthral the
audience who were also found to be less in numbers than the previous
editions.

A Dalit scholar, who is doing his PhD in Philosophy in Madurai Kamaraj
University said that, the working class art forms along with Marxist
literature had been a critical source towards the emancipation of the
working classes; likewise Dalit art forms were critical in bringing
social changes and this festival which had been an influential one in
the Dalit discourse is losing track.

The Dalit Kalai Vizha, which was seen as an effort to explore trends
of conscientisation, politicization and re-interpretation of a culture
aiming for a role reversal from a theoretical perspective is losing
momentum. The festival which was usually held throughout the night
till the next day at the grounds had to be shifted for the first time
indoors after 11 p.m. following pressure from the police department.

The performative activities such as dance, martial arts skills display
and theatrical productions and reading poetry formed the Dalit Kalai
Vizha. A reverential reference to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and his ideas and
the importance of Dalit unity was made through various forms including
lyrical rendition, dance performance, poetry reading and drama.

The songs sung and short skits performed there did send a strong
message where it basically depicted the outcome of the everyday life
struggles, about the work and the status of the oppressed in the
society. The folk performances included indigenous Dalit forms of
Tamil art like Parai Aatam, Kombu Isai, Periya Melam, Jimbla Melam,
Raja Rani Aattam, Jikkattam, Kaliyalattam, Karagattam, Kaavadiattam,
Naiyandi Melam, Mayilattam, Oyilattam, Thappatiattam, Sakkai Kuchi
aatam, Maatukombattam, Themmangu, Kummanguthu Aattam Magudiaatam and
Suliyalaatam which were performed by troupes from all over the State.

Awards were given to journalist Jeyarani and Sherin who run a non
governmental organization called Velicham for the marginalized
children. The event was organised by Dalit Resource Centre, Madurai. A
book titled Dalit Cartoons: A Journey towards Liberation was also
released on the occasion.

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