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Friday, May 20, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Now, Sonia vs Mayawati

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Now-Sonia-vs-Mayawati/Article1-699455.aspx

Now, Sonia vs Mayawati
Aurangzeb Naqshbandi , Hindustan Times
Varanasi, May 19, 2011
Email to Author

First Published: 17:11 IST(19/5/2011)

Congress president Sonia Gandhi came out against the Bahujan Samaj
Party government in Uttar Pradesh on the land acquisition issue on
Thursday — for the first time since the Bhatta-Parsaul agitation.
Taking up the issue from party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who
spoke on the police-farmer clashe

s a day earlier, she said she was "ashamed to see the atrocities" by
the Mayawati government in Noida-Greater Noida villages.

Endorsing Rahul's stand, she accused the BSP government of using the
state machinery to acquire land. "Yahan loot khasoot ki saazish chal
rahi hai... yeh hum kaise bardasht kar sakte hain... kabhi nahi kar
sakte (there is loot going on here. We will never tolerate
it)."http://www.hindustantimes.com/images/HTPopups/200511/20_5_11-metro-1.jpg

Addressing a rally in this temple city on the last day of the party's
two-day state convention, she said: "The state has become andher nagri
(dark city), where there is no law and order. The only politics being
played in UP is caste politics."
She also expressed confidence that the Congress would come back to
power. The state is going to polls in 2012.

Claiming that no government other than the UPA had taken stringent
measures against corruption, Gandhi said in an apparent reference to
the BJP: "These parties couldn't see corruption within."

In her first reaction to the results of the just-concluded elections
in five states, Gandhi said the results were an indicator of the
popularity of the Congress and its strength.

"The BJP was limited to four-five seats only and the Left has been
wiped out… Jo jaise karega, woh waisa bharega (as you sow, so you
reap)."

Gandhi also urged Congress workers to go to the people and fight for
them. "I am sure victory will be ours in UP as well.
The Congress party has always upheld your trust," she said, assuring
her audience that the land acquisition and food security bills would
soon be taken up in Parliament.

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[ZESTCaste] Cabinet approves caste and BPL census

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2031778.ece

Cabinet approves caste and BPL census
PTI
New Delhi, May 19:

A head count to identify the poor, including their caste and religion,
was on Thursday approved by the government which aims at ensuring that
the benefits of targeted subsidy programme reach them.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh, gave its nod for conducting a census in rural and urban areas
to identify those living below poverty line (BPL).

The enumeration on the basis of caste and religion would be part of
the census that would begin in June and end by December this year,
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ms Ambika Soni said after the
cabinet meeting.

This is the first time that the mammoth head count is being carried
out to identify the poor along with their caste and religion. While
the last BPL census was carried out in 2002, this is the first effort
to carry out caste census since 1931.

The paper-less exercise would be carried out by the state governments
through low-cost hand-held devices to be manufactured by state-run
Bharat Electronics Limited. It would help identify the proportion of
every religion and caste among the BPL category.

While the BPL data for urban and rural poor would be utilised for the
12th Plan, the targeted subsidy schemes as well as the Unique
Identification programme (UID), the data on caste and religion would
remain confidential.

The Ministries of Rural Development, Housing and Urban Poverty
Alleviation and the Registrar General of India would jointly conduct
the census.

"This completely fulfils the assurance given by government in
Parliament to have caste-based census along with the socio-economic
profiling. Political leaders demanded this", Ms Soni said.

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

[ZESTCaste] New Measures - from human development & unfettered rights/choices to justice

are new measures required for economic and social well being progress in 21st century? my inputs into economist.. please join this debate

http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/698/showCommentModule:1

_________________________________________

Ranjani K.Murthy wrote:

Dear Madam/Sir

I am in total agreement. I think we need to develop indices using the approach of pedagogy of the oppressed

Rise in inequalities with human development is a reality globally. Strategies adopted by communities and households for dealing with inequalities vary from rise in drug trafficking in Central America, spread of dowry to communities where it did not exist (e.g. dalits and fisherfolks in India) and spread of Maoists attacks in India and rise in crimes in South Africa.

Climate change and environment degradation is also a reality. The burdens of both inequalities and climate change/environment degradation are disproportionately borne by those who are already marginalised like dalits, adivasis, blacks, landless households, migrants, marginal and small farmers, slum dwellers and women and girls amongst them (the oppressed).

It is in this context that the Human Development Index needs to be revisited from the vantage point of oppressed to what they see as human justice not only for this generation but next.

Do the oppressed believe in unfettered individual human rights or that individual human rights cannot curtail collective rights and well being? I believe the latter. They are against unfettered conversion of agriculture land, coasts, forests etc for tourism, industries, huge infrastructure development projects. However, conscious voices of oppressed (when a Paulo frierian model has been adopted) state that individual human rights cannot be violated in the name of culture (e.g. honour killing of those who marry outside their religion) or curtailment of freedom of speech in the name of national interests.

Do majority of oppressed believe in Reproductive and sexual rights or reproductive and sexual justice?
They place importance on Justice. Slum dwellers and poor rural women in Tamil Nadu were shocked when I asked them should women have a right to sex selection of males, so called sex work and surrogate motherhood. They were clear there would be more trafficking and polyandry, sexual violence and exploitation. They want underpinning causes which lie in neo liberal paradigm, patriarchy, casteism, class and unethical institutions should be addressed

A third point that the oppressed tell me is let us look at beyond capitalism and communism; beyond public and private-curtail choice in health and education. They have asked me why do your children have access to good education and we do not, why do we go to public health care and you go to private (though not all ethical), why do we live in slums and hamlets with poor water and sanitation when upper caste/whites do not?. They make a strong argument for putting back slum dwellers into main towns and dalit/black/Muslim hamlets into main villages and allocating the same water, health and education facility for all-publicly financed and publicly or privately provided (accredited institution).

As of now donors and government focus on sectoral projects when the need of the hour is changing social institutions to be accountable to needs of marginalized of present generation and future ones. The oppressed do not think of their lives sectorially but as individuals, members of families, communities, state (to some extent) etc. Some are aware of supra state organisations like World Bank, IMF and WTO, but a majority are not. But they want institutions they know to function with a justice perspective

They also want the upper middle class and elite to act in trusteeship, for if we keep on accumulating where is there anything left for them? The pie is after all limited. They want income/asset ceiling.

If human justice (present generation and future ones) are to become a reality we need to revisit development paradigms urgently, and revisit measures to capture these from the vantage point of the oppressed.

Ranjani.K.Murthy

posted on 19/05/2011 01:46:55 amRecommended (0)Report abuse

Ranjani K.Murthy wrote:

Dear madam/Sir

In continuation of my previous posting let oppressed rule the family, dominant community, markets state, supra state institutions- world bank, WTO, IMF, UN et al. For what all what progress have the elite/elite countries made after 50-60 years of creation of these supra state organisations? Mother earth and the world is on a pathway to disaster.

The oppressed groups, sufis, bhakti movements, liberation theologists etc have a different connection with life force and just spirituality.

posted on 19/05/2011 02:42:39 amRecommended (0)Report abuse

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul misquoted on Noida deaths, rapes, claims Cong

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-misquoted-on-Noida-deaths-rapes-claims-Cong/articleshow/8428905.cms

Rahul misquoted on Noida deaths, rapes, claims Cong
TNN | May 19, 2011, 03.27am IST

NEW DELHI: With other political parties joining the Mayawati
government to question Rahul Gandhi's claim of mass murder and rape in
Bhatta Parsaul, Congress on Wednesday claimed that the party general
secretary had been misquoted.

AICC media head Janardan Dwivedi said, "Whatever has come in media is
unfortunate. Nowhere did he (Rahul) mention the number of 74 or 74
bodies. Rahul Gandhi had only said that at one place an ash-heap of 70
feet area was there in which bones were found," he told reporters.
About the authenticity of the claim made, Dwivedi said Rahul spoke
what he was told by villagers during his visit.

Dwivedi's defence came after both Samajwadi Party and BJP raised
doubts about Rahul's sensational version of what happened last week at
Bhatta Parsaul and after the inhabitants refused to support the
claims. Mayawati government, which has accused Congress of
politicizing the issue, has sent the ashes, allegedly containing human
remains according to Rahul, for forensic investigation.

The AICC media head emphasized that Rahul had merely quoted the
villagers who clashed with police over their demand for enhanced
compensation for farmland acquired by UP government. "Naturally,
whenever you go after some incidents, whatever people tell you, you
repeat those things," he said.

Speaking at a party meet in Varanasi, Rahul talked about his dramatic
visit to Bhatta Parsaul but stopped short of repeating the charge of
killings and rape. He said villagers were living in fear and he did
not get to meet men in Bhatta Parsaul.

Rahul demanded a judicial probe into the violence, and said, "If the
government says that there is no problem, why is there no inquiry to
find out the truth."

In a hard-hitting speech, he also said that his agitation in Bhatta
Parsaul was only the beginning of a larger campaign against the
Mayawati government.

Significantly, in Delhi, Dwivedi seemed to concede the possibility of
villagers making exaggerated claims. "That matter should be
investigated. If it is not correct, it is alright. But if it is
correct, it is a very serious matter. Whatever may be the fact, it
should come out."

A day-long independent investigation by TOI at Bhatta Parsaul pointed
to high-handedness by police who were fired upon by the protesters,
but the villagers did not support the charge of largescale killings
and rape.

Congress, however, repeated its demand for judicial probe into the
police action. "This is a matter of investigation. It should be
investigated. If bones have been found, whose bones are these should
be determined. And if atrocities have taken place against women and
they were even beaten up, why has it happened," Dwivedi said.

The political clash over Bhatta Parsaul is being seen against the
backdrop of the looming UP polls. Scheduled next year, the state
elections are being seen as test for the Congress general secretary
who was widely credited with the party's unexpectedly strong
performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul was instrumental in Congress's decision to go it alone in a
state where it had been reduced to the margins since the early 90s.
While the risky gambit paid off, Congress has failed to build upon the
surprise win two years ago. The sub-par performance of the party in
the just-held assembly elections and, early on in Bihar, has enhanced
the need for Congress to emerge as the main political formation in
opposition to Mayawati.

Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, asked if the party had
evidence to back Rahul's claims, said, "This is not a court to talk
about evidence...It was a political delegation. We called for a
thorough probe to establish that there was no rape or murder. Why is
the UP government hesitating in ordering an inquiry," she said.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit gram pradhan was killed

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/dalit-gram-pradhan-was-killed/692824.html

Dalit gram pradhan was killed
PTI | 03:05 PM,May 19,2011

Mainpuri May 19 (PTI) A dalit gram pradhan was killed and another
person seriously injured in a shoot out here this morning, police
said. Dara Singh Jatav, gram pradhan of Gadiya Chinkaura in Bewar
police station was going with Sadhukar Yadav when he was shot at near
Khuja. While Jatav died on the spot, Yadav was referred to Agra
hospital in a serious condition. Later, the locals staged a protest
placing the body on the road demanding immediate arrest of the
culprits. Superintendent of Police Happy Gupta said the incident
appeared to be a fallout of some rivalry in the village. PTI CORR SAB
PG

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Friday, May 20, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Now, Sonia vs Mayawati

[ZESTCaste] Cabinet approves caste and BPL census

Thursday, May 19, 2011

[ZESTCaste] New Measures - from human development & unfettered rights/choices to justice

[ZESTCaste] Rahul misquoted on Noida deaths, rapes, claims Cong

[ZESTCaste] Dalit gram pradhan was killed

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