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Monday, March 19, 2012

[ZESTCaste] US black writing echoes pain of Dalit literature

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_us-black-writing-echoes-pain-of-dalit-literature_1663988

US black writing echoes pain of Dalit literature
Published: Sunday, Mar 18, 2012, 15:36 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Ahmedabad | Agency: DNA

In Dalit literature, India, like the US, has its own black literature.
The literature of US blacks is similar to Dalit literature in that
both are records of the tragedy of their respective histories.

This was the general view among scholars who participated in a two-day
national seminar on black literature, organised by Gujarat
University's Department of English.

The department had organised the seminar on the topic, 'Celebrating
Blackness Offshore: Reading Black Literature from Indian perspective,'
in the run up to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination that falls on March 21. The two-day event ended on
Saturday, March 17.

Participants discussed and presented papers on various aspects of
literature of the black people of the US. Alice Walker's 1982 novel,
The Color Purple, which won the Pulitzer prize for fiction, was among
the books discussed along with the concept of motherhood and
Afro-American identity in paintings by black artists.

On the first day, Dr Sudha Rai, dean, faculty of arts, Jodhpur
University, presented a paper in which she compared African-American
literature with Dalit literature. Calling both literatures similar in
that they were records of 'tragedy of history', Rai explored the
question whether or not the two literatures could throw light on each
other.

A documentary and discussion on writers Toni Morrison and Alice Walker
was held later in the day. The highlight of the second day was a panel
discussion on the contemporary trends of the same literature.

The seminar, the third national seminar organised by the department,
was an attempt not only to celebrate a literature that was born out of
oppression, but also to use that knowledge in the Indian context. As
Rai said, "We fail to see our own weaknesses. The African-American
literature holds up the mirror to us."

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[ZESTCaste] What’s next for Mayawati?

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/whats-next-for-mayawati/925324/

What's next for Mayawati?
Harish S Wankhede Posted online: Mon Mar 19 2012, 02:50 hrs
The BSP's stumble in UP should prompt it to think harder about its
national agenda

Analysing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, many have belittled
the Bahujan Samaj Party as having "lost force", and suggested the "end
of Dalit/caste politics". The election mandate has been interpreted as
a response to anti-incumbency, alleged corruption, and the burden on
the exchequer from parks and statues. Deep down, though, there is a
subtle acceptance that Mayawati's rule has brought tremendous change
in UP, at the sociopolitical and economic level.

However, the BSP should not limit itself to UP's corridors of power.
Current political conditions permit Mayawati to stretch into newer
regions and communities, and become a formidable force in the upcoming
Lok Sabha election.

The recent elections have shown that she has the power to galvanise
her core constituency, that Dalits remain the permanent voters of the
BSP. However, it has been suggested that her social engineering with
the Brahmins has not worked this time. It has been said that the
Brahmins did not vote for the BSP (though it is unclear who they
actually voted overwhelmingly for). The challenge for Mayawati now is
to work harder at persuading these sections to stay with the BSP.
Sarvajan politics comes with an ethical dilemma as it poses itself
against the dominant majoritarian politics of OBC identity. The BSP
must make sure its ideology and principles are not compromised as it
presents itself to lead non-Dalit groups.

In 2007, it was said that the SP lost the assembly elections due to a
considerable shift of Muslim voters to the BSP. However, Mayawati
failed to sustain this support in the recent elections, despite having
fielded the maximum number of Muslim candidates and having announced
various welfare schemes for Muslims. If she can promise concrete
measures to include Muslims in her social justice agenda (including
the guarantee of separate Muslim reservation) and promise
unconditional protection to their religious and cultural interests
against Hindutva politics, Muslims may yet choose her again. This
makes sense in the larger ethical project of Bahujan politics.

The BSP is also the third biggest national party with a growing vote
share of above 6 per cent. In states like Haryana, Delhi, Uttaranchal
and Punjab, the BSP has good prospects. In the recently concluded
elections, despite no direct intervention and support from the party,
the candidates did remarkably well, emerging as runners-up in many
constituencies.

The party can make an impress on new sections of voters — mobilising
Dalits and other politically marginalised groups (non-Jat groups in
Haryana, Muslims in Delhi and migrant population in Punjab) can pay
heavy dividends in the coming Lok Sabha elections. States like
Maharashtra that have witnessed strong Dalit movements are a promising
new frontier for the BSP — in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, it
has already launched an impressive entry in the local elections.

UP should, of course, remain the central location of Mayawati's
politics — making two communities crucial, the Brahmins and the
Muslims. A "Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim alliance" is a sure winner in UP, but
almost impossible to achieve. These communities have their own
strategic and separate interests (which often clash) — and it will not
be easy for the BSP to solder them together. In states like Haryana,
Delhi and Maharashtra, it could win some parliamentary seats only if
the Dalit voter accepts the BSP as vanguard party.

BSP politics is based on the idea of fair representation of
historically marginalised communities in the political sphere. It has
mobilised Dalits, given them a dignified political location and made
them vital to mainstream democratic struggles. And yet, being
identified mainly as a "Dalit party" and a "one region party" have
limited its potential as an alternative national force. The BSP should
take the recent UP loss as a learning experience and imagine itself as
an emergent national player.

The writer is assistant professor of political science at Delhi University

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[ZESTCaste] Ranjan to stay in house of Dalit in Besur

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/235507/ranjan-stay-house-dalit-besur.html

Ranjan to stay in house of Dalit in Besur
Shanivarasanthe, Mar 18, 2012, DHNS :

Colony gets ready to welcome MLA

There is festive mood in SC Colony at Chikkabhandara in Besur Gram
Panchayat. Thanks to the novel programme of village stay initiated by
MLA M P Appacchu Ranajn. The MLA will be staying in the house of
Dharmaiah in the colony on Monday.

MLA M P Appacchu Ranjan will stay in the house of Dharmaiah, a dalit,
during his village stay at Chikkabhandara SC colony in Besur GP limits
of Shanivarasanthe on Monday. The colony residents are eager to
welcome the MLA. He will lay foundation for development work in the
colony at 3 pm.

There will be a medical camp for the residents. Work order will be
given to the beneficiaries of housing scheme. Sewing machines will be
distributed to the needy on the occasion. The taluk-level officials
will also be present.

He will take part in pooja at Mariamma temple in the colony. The MLA
will be entertained with dance, folk songs, Sobana haadu, Kolata and
other cultural programmes.

As MLA will be residing in the house of a labourer Dharmaiah, the
family members are eager to serve him with rice, sambar, palya,
happala, payasam, kesaribaath etc. Speaking to Deccan Herald, the
villagers said that the colony has a primary school.

However, there is only one teacher to impart education. There is a
need for additional teachers. Majority of the colony residents do not
have toilet facilities. The colony does not have electricity either.
The villagers are going to keep forth all these demands before the
MLA.

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Shiv Sena’s Dalit hatred behind denial of seat to Athavale’

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/shiv-senas-dalit-hatred-behind-denial-of-seat-to-athavale/925567/

'Shiv Sena's Dalit hatred behind denial of seat to Athavale'

Express news service Posted online: Mon Mar 19 2012, 11:06 hrs
Mumbai : The Congress has said the Shiv Sena's denial of a Rajya Sabha
nomination to Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athavale is a
reflection of the party's hatred towards the Dalit community.

"The Shiv Sena's denial to Athavale is a final blow to the concept of
Mahayuti," said Sachin Sawant, spokesperson of the Maharashtra Pradesh
Congress Committee.

Though the post-poll analysis of results in Mumbai showed the Dalit
vote had been split in the financial capital, Sawant said it was
evident from the nagar panchayat, panchayat samiti, zilla parishad and
corporation election results that the Mahayuti—or the alliance of the
Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party and theRPI(A) — had not been
accepted by the people of Maharashtra.

"The performance of the RPI, Shiv Sena and BJP was dismal in rural Maharashtra.

Even in the cities, the RPI could not get any noticeable success," Sawant said.

According to him, while the Sena-BJP had won 112 seats without the RPI
in the 2007 polls to the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation, the
seat-sharing alliance with the RPI has led to a reduced tally for the
saffron combine. "This means the Dalit votes have not been transferred
to the saffron alliance. Also, out of 29 seats that RPI contested,
they managed to win only one seat. In the remaining 28 seats, the RPI
has won a meagre number of votes," Sawant said. "This means the
traditional saffron votes were also not transferred to Dalit
candidates."

Calling the alliance an opportunist initiative, the Congress leader
said Athavale himself had been more keen to corner an RS nomination
than give meaningful representation to the Dalit community.

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

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[ZESTCaste] TN: Khaki blind to Dalit plight

http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/tn-khaki-blind-to-dalit-plight/373814.html

TN: Khaki blind to Dalit plight

Sangeetha Neeraja
Express News Service
Last Updated : 19 Mar 2012 12:08:07 PM IST

CHENNAI: Over two years ago, Usha (28) saw her husband Raja being
lynched by a caste Hindu mob in Villupuram in broad daylight. "Over
100 people armed with sickles, iron bars, knives and stones, hit my
husband in front of me and my daughters; broke his skull and gouged
his eyes out before killing him. What did the police do? Nothing. Two
years have passed since the incident occurred. No action has been
taken so far," says Usha.

She was narrating her plight at a recent public hearing on the
'Atrocities and Non-implementation of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Tamil Nadu Rules'
in the city. Usha's presentation put the glare on caste bias that is
very much alive and kicking in our backyard.

In fact, less than one per cent of the accused get convicted under the
SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, according to statistics
released by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2009. And almost 95
per cent of complaints filed by members of the SC/ST community are not
even recorded. Of the five per cent of complaints based on which First
Information Reports (FIRs) are filed, hardly any move forward as
counter cases filed by the accused to render them ineffective.

As Bharathan, a Dalit rights activist, who had helped Dalits file 218
FIRs in 2008 under the SC/ST(PoA) Act, points out, "Unless some civil
society groups or NGOs support the victim, their complaints are never
accepted by the cops."

"What is sad to note is, the police often advise the accused on how to
come up with the best counter-case, to nullify the victim's complaint.
Cops prefer to investigate the counter cases, ignoring the original
complaints filed by the victims. Often, FIRs are not filed under the
SC/ST Act but under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (minor
injury) or under Section 294-B of the IPC (singing, reciting or
uttering any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public
place), so it becomes easy later to force Dalits to settle for a
compromise."

To prove his point, he cites the case of a Arunthaiyar woman, who
registered a complaint at Surandai police station in Tirunelveli on
February 22. A caste Hindu verbally abused her in public. Though the
cops gave the woman a CRS receipt after filing an FIR, they changed
the case to that of causing public nuisance, after allegedly
consulting the town's panchayat chairman. The case was closed after
later.

"When a case gets past the FIR into the investigation level, the
person who wrote the FIR is king. The way he words it is very
important. Most of the time, it is mildly worded with an intention to
water down the intensity of the atrocity. Which is one reason why the
charges rarely stick and the accused gets acquitted easily. The DSP,
who is supposed to investigate the case as per the SC/ST Act is
forever missing in action," says Bharathan.

On rare occasions, the DSP files a fair investigation report. If and
when that happens, he is transferred after the case comes to court, he
argues And the investigation is handed over to the local police, who
try their best to get the case nullified.

Under the SC/ST Act, every district is supposed to have a SC/ST Act
monitoring cell, which is a five-member body, presided by the district
collector. If a DSP dismisses a case, he has to present it to this
cell. Sadly, the district-level monitoring cells are entirely
dysfunctional.

When Dalit or tribal women go to police stations, they end up
interacting with male cops, not policewomen. The policemen hardly
listen to them or take down their grievances, charges Kalpana,
advisor, Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Panchayat Leaders. Besides,
policemen are often not polite to Dalits, she points out.

In fact, 18 per cent of the population in Tamil Nadu comprises Dalits.
Tribals constitute one per cent of the population. Yet, job vacancies
reserved for them are not filled up, citing spurious reasons, such as
lack of "suitable candidates", observes Kalpana.

There are about 450 types of discrimination and atrocities practiced
by caste Hindus against SC/STs, out of which 32 are visible. The rest
fall under various heads of visibility. Some are so well disguised
that you can figure them out only if you happen to be a Dalit.

For example, a Block Development Officer who was previously posted in
the Villathikulam panchayat Union office, would get up every time the
Dalit Panchayat president visited him. He would keep standing till the
conversation was over – often stretching to 25-30 minutes — to avoid
asking the Dalit to take a seat, argue activists.

At the public hearing, cases broadly falling under social exclusion —
infringement of customary rights to public places like water, road,
graveyard, police atrocities resulting in custodial deaths, rape and
sexual assault, abuse of women in power at the panchayat level were
discussed.

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

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Monday, March 19, 2012

[ZESTCaste] US black writing echoes pain of Dalit literature

[ZESTCaste] What’s next for Mayawati?

[ZESTCaste] Ranjan to stay in house of Dalit in Besur

[ZESTCaste] ‘Shiv Sena’s Dalit hatred behind denial of seat to Athavale’

[ZESTCaste] TN: Khaki blind to Dalit plight

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