Latest News Update

Thursday, January 12, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Inheriting injustice: A chilling film on India's Dalits

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Inheriting-injustice-A-chilling-film-on-Indias-Dalits/articleshow/11459368.cms

Inheriting injustice: A chilling film on India's Dalits
IANS | Jan 12, 2012, 12.06PM IST

Inheriting injustice: A chilling film on India's Dalits
Jai Bhim, Comrade

"Every day two Dalits are raped and three killed," goes a shocking
statistic in well-known filmmaker Anand Patwardhan's latest
documentary, " Jai Bhim, Comrade".

It begins with such murderous day, July 11, 1997, when 10 Dalits
gathered to protest the desecration of an Ambedkar statue were shot
dead by Mumbai Police. Six days after this massacre, unable to take
the pain and grief of his people and as a mark of protest, Dalit
singer, poet and activist Vilas Ghogre committed suicide.

"Jai Bhim..." then traces the legacy of the unique democratic protest
style of the Dalits through their stirring poetry and music and the
story of Ghogre and other singers and poets.

What emerges are tales of injustice and atrocities in the world's
largest democracy that will wrench your gut. Its riveting parallels
span not just Maharashtra (where the film is situated) but the world.

A Dalit leader in the film is heard saying, "We have a singer, a poet
in every home." It is here that you realise the similarity between the
fight for justice of the mostly lowly and oppressed of Indian people
with that of Afro-Americans. Both share a strong tradition of music
and poetry that provides them relief, strength and prepares them to
fight against injustice.

This is the reason why the state of Maharashtra blacklisted one of the
strongest Dalit music groups (prominently featured in the film), the
Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), by calling them Maoists.

Patwardhan has a keen sense of social satire. He rips apart the notion
that equal justice prevails for everyone in India. When you see
political leaders of national stature speaking of wiping out entire
castes and religions, which in a true democracy would have landed them
in jail, you realise how truth can sneak out from rhetoric and
rewriting of histories, and punch you in the gut.

Documentaries thus serve as a public justice system. The powerful may
not be punished for their murders, but those who see the film can see
their true face, and remember.

'Jai Bhim...' also abounds in irony of how a constitution drafted by a
'dalit', Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, continues to fail his own community. It
balances the grand sweep of dalit injustice with individual stories.
Thus on one side you see a Dalit working in a garbage heap without the
basic protection, cleaning Mumbai's filth, you also see middle-class
Mumbai talk about 'how dirty and filthy these people are.'

The film's objectivity is laid bare because it spares no one. Speaking
to IANS, Patwardhan said, "The film is critical of everything, even
the Dalit movement, except its youth who have been forced to go
underground."

In a fitting screening, which Anand calls its 'real' premiere
(previously screened in a few film festivals), over 800 people in BIT
chawl in Byculla, where a part of the film was shot, sat mesmerised
Monday, without a break for its 200-minute duration.

In an ideal world, cries against Dalit injustice would have sprung all
over. Since we don't live on a just planet, "Jai Bhim, Comrade" will
retain relevance so long as caste-based atrocities are not uprooted.

For it may have taken Patwardhan 14 years, in reality this story of
those who inherit injustice in their genes has been in the making for
thousands of years in India.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/

PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com

TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/

Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] Statue-gate: Mayawati's party attacks Election Commission

http://www.ndtv.com/article/assembly-polls/statue-gate-mayawati-s-party-attacks-election-commission-166259

Statue-gate: Mayawati's party attacks Election Commission

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: January 12, 2012 15:43 IST

Lucknow: A day after the Uttar Pradesh government complied with the
Election Commission's deadline to cover all statues of Chief Minister
Mayawati and her party's election symbol, the elephant, the Bahujan
Samaj Party has hit out at the poll panel saying the decision was
one-sided and had hurt the sentiments of the downtrodden.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, senior party
leader Satish Chandra Mishra questioned the commission's intention to
conduct free and fair elections in the state, which will see voting
over seven phases in February. He claimed that the decision was
unjustified and was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.

The commission had not taken into account the statues and election
symbols of other parties, Mr Mishra pointed out and claimed that the
order was not in conformity with the law. He said that the Dalits and
backwards were feeling cheated due to the decision which was based on
representations from the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party.

The EC had on Saturday issued an order to cover all statues of
Mayawati and the BSP poll symbol at parks and memorials in Lucknow and
Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) to ensure a level playing field. Fixing
January 11 as the deadline, the EC had asked the District Electoral
Officers-cum-district magistrates of the two places to send a
compliance report.

But Mr Mishra said, "The statues installed in parks and memorials are
in welcome position with upside trunk and the BSP symbol elephant has
down trunk, which did not violate model code of conduct.

The elephants, one installed in parks and memorials and the party
symbol do not have any similarity", he claimed, adding the statues of
the elephant are installed in a number of temples and government
buildings.

He pointed out that elephants were engraved on the pillars at
Rashtrapati Bhawan, North Block and South Block and added that even
the Speaker's chair in Parliament had an elephant statue above it.

If the commission had an objection to the BSP's elephant, it should
also have acted against the SP's election symbol bicycle, the BJP's
lotus and the Rashtriya Lok Dal's handpump, Mr Mishra argued in the
letter.

After the EC's order, statues of elephants in Lucknow were veiled with
tarpaulin and cloth, while those of Ms Mayawati were covered by wooden
structures using plywood sheets at a number of places including Dr
Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, Samajik Parivartan Prateek
Sthal and Smriti Upvan.

In Noida, this exercise covered the Dalit Prerna Sthal which has 30
elephant statues made of stone and 22 elephant statues made of bronze
in addition to two statues of Ms Mayawati. Statues of the chief
minister and elephants in Greater Noida were also draped on Monday.

The EC order was welcomed by the opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh
but some had questioned the utility of such a move.

Justifying the decision, Mr Quraishi had told NDTV that this was being
done to ensure a level playing field since government property cannot
be used for political gain.

Pointing out that there was nothing unusual in the decision, he said
that those criticising the order were ill-informed.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/assembly-polls/statue-gate-mayawati-s-party-attacks-election-commission-166259&cp

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] Akhilesh Yadav attacks Mayawati on corruption

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-11/news/30616366_1_akhilesh-yadav-mayawati-and-bsp-symbol-samajwadi-party

Akhilesh Yadav attacks Mayawati on corruption
PTI Jan 11, 2012, 03.35PM IST

SHRAVASTI: Samajwadi Party state unit chief Akhilesh Yadav today took
potshots at opposition parties, including ruling BSP, saying Chief
Minister Mayawati was cutting a share in the corruption money and the
Congress Party was confused in its stand on reservation to Muslims.

"Mayawati takes share of corruption by her ministers. She per day
counts at least Rs 100 crores given to her by corrupt leaders and
officers", Yadav said while addressing a gathering here.

On Congress' reservation promise to Muslims, he said, the party is
confused. "After providing 4.5 per cent reservation to minorities,
Congress leader Salman Khursheed is now talking of giving 9 per cent
reservation to Muslims. Why is the party confused," he asked.

On SP-RLD coalition, Yadav said that it would hardly make an impact in
the Assembly polls.

Hailing the decision of EC to cover statues of Mayawati and BSP symbol
Elephant, Yadav said that it was a good decision.

On seizure of money by EC teams, Akhilesh said that it should not be
done to harass traders.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati draped, govt closes all parks

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Mayawati-draped-govt-closes-all-parks/articleshow/11457116.cms

Mayawati draped, govt closes all parks
Neha Shukla, TNN | Jan 12, 2012, 07.08AM IST

LUCKNOW: With cardboard shielding chief minister Mayawati's statues
from public gaze and yellow tarpaulin draping the elephants, the
government took the unusual step of closing down the city's memorials
and parks altogether. The Election Commission on Saturday ordered
covering up of Maya's statues and that of her party symbol, the
elephant, at the city's parks till the polls were over to ensure BSP
does not have an edge over other parties in publicity.

Wednesday was the deadline to complete the cover-up operation. But the
government decided to not just stop with the cover-up exercise. "The
ECI had ordered draping of statues, we decided to close down the parks
completely," Lucknow DM Anil Kumar Sagar told TOI.

Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha, when contacted, said: "We will
talk to the Election Commission of India about this tomorrow
(Thursday) and see what it has to say." On Wednesday, when TOI visited
the parks, the reporters weren't allowed entry, with the guards saying
the parks were closed to public.

There are nine such parks in the city dedicated to Dalit icons and
built at an estimated cost of Rs 3,500 crore. It was only in October
last year that all the parks were thrown open to the public.

On Wednesday, the government made no formal announcement about the
closure of parks. Initially, it appeared that the parks were closed
due to the chaos caused by the presence of labourers and staff, as
they were required to drape statues. But that obviously was not the
case, though no one was venturing an explanation.

The security supervisors at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan
sthal, Gomtinagar, merely informed that all the parks have been closed
down till the polls are over. The staff said, they have been told that
it's a direction by the EC. However, EC officials denied there were
any such directions. The public entry has only been barred in parks
that allow ticket-based entry.

The premises like Smriti Upvan were open to the public, though
journalists were not allowed inside. The government, after covering
all the statues, submitted its status report to the Election
Commission of India. However, while the statues of Mayawati have been
covered at all places with ply-boards, elephants at some of the places
were not covered till late Wednesday evening.

EC had given a deadline of 5 pm on Wednesday to cover all the statues.
The statues of elephants atop pillars were left uncovered at every
memorial and park. At Kanshiram Smarak, Jail Road, elephants on
fountains were also not covered till late in the evening. The giant
jumbos were covered with yellow tarpaulin everywhere.

The Manyavar Kanshiram Ji Green Eco Garden at VIP Road, Dr Bhimrao
Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, Gomtinagar and Smriti Upvan,
ashiana, presented a similar picture where elephants on pillars and
fountains were not covered.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati has Rs 87 crore, Manipur CM has Rs 6 lakh

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-mayawati-has-rs-87-crore-manipur-cm-has-rs-6-lakh/20120112.htm

Mayawati has Rs 87 crore, Manipur CM has Rs 6 lakh
Last updated on: January 12, 2012 12:16 IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has assets worth a whopping Rs
87.27 crore, according to the National Election Watch, which has
analysed the affidavits filed by the chief ministers of the five
poll-bound states.

According to the organisation, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi
Singh has assets worth only Rs 6.09 lakh.

Parkash Singh Badal, chief minister of Punjab, has a criminal case
registered against him. He faces charges of cheating, forgery and
criminal conspiracy. The other CMs are not facing any criminal
charges.

Let us take a look at some of the other information obtained by the
National Election Watch:

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal: He faces charges of
criminal conspiracy, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of
property, forgery of valuable security, will, forgery for purpose of
cheating, using as genuine a forged document or electronic record.

He owns moveable assets worth Rs 2,54,63,551 and immoveable assets
worth Rs 6,66,02,320.

Budget performance: Revenue expenditure increased in 2009-10 by 11.6
per cent. The increase was mainly due to increase under general
education, pension, assignment to local bodies and Panchayati Raj
Institutions and roads and bridges. Punjab has faced a revenue deficit
since 2007-08 since revenue growth has failed to surpass revenue
expenditure. Punjab has the fifth highest fiscal deficit of all States
which is 3.6 per cent of its Gross State Domestic Product.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

Thursday, January 12, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Inheriting injustice: A chilling film on India's Dalits

[ZESTCaste] Statue-gate: Mayawati's party attacks Election Commission

[ZESTCaste] Akhilesh Yadav attacks Mayawati on corruption

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati draped, govt closes all parks

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati has Rs 87 crore, Manipur CM has Rs 6 lakh

Blog Archive