Latest News Update

Sunday, October 3, 2010

[ZESTCaste] HBA demands to make Hyderabad second capital of country

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/101426/hba-demands-make-hyderabad-second.html

HBA demands to make Hyderabad second capital of country
Hyderabad, Oct 2 (PTI)

Hyderabad Bachao Andolan (HBA), a movement to make Hyderabad the
second capital of India was formally launched today.

The movement will appeal to Central and State Government to make
Hyderabad a second capital of India as desired by Dr B R Ambedkar, the
patriarch of the Indian Constitution.
HBA has been formed on lines of Narmada Bachao Andolan headed by Medha
Patkar, Convener of the HBA, Thallapalli Prashant Kumar said.

Kumar said the demand was being made in the wake of issue of
bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, which will demote Hyderabad from being a
capital of 23 districts to just ten districts.

He said a two-month campaign would also be launched to educate people
about the importance of the city and need to make it the second
capital of the country. The campaign would end on December, 6, the
death anniversary of Ambedkar, he added.

__._,_.___

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

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

New Members 2

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/

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

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl gangrape case: Deputy Collector’s son held

http://www.dailypioneer.com/286941/Dalit-girl-gangrape-case-Deputy-Collector%E2%80%99s-son-held.html

Dalit girl gangrape case: Deputy Collector's son held
October 03, 2010 5:24:09 PM

Staff Reporter | Bhopal

The police on Thursday nabbed Omprakash Pradhan, son of a Deputy
Collector in connection with the gangrape of a minor dalit girl.

This is the fourth arrest in the case after three other accused
Sandeep Ahirwar, 21 year-old sons of a head constable, Satyendra
Jharia, 19 and Surendra Nanda, 19 were arrested on Wednesday. The
other two accused, Abhishek Tiwari and Gopal Sarthi, are at large.

Pradhan's father is posted as the Deputy Collector in Mandla. A minor
dalit girl was allegedly gangraped and the incident was filmed on a
cellphone by six youths, including the sons of a Deputy Collector and
a head constable in Mandla. The incident came to light after the MMS,
"local wali", was circulated in the tribal-dominated town of the
State.

The victim, a resident of a village 20 km from the town, often visited
Mandla with her uncle. She had become friendly with one of the youths.
On one such trip to Mandla, two of the accused offered her a ride on a
motorcycle. The girl was taken to Abhishek Tiwari's house where she
was raped.

The next morning, she was taken to Mohantola jungle about two
kilometres from the Mandla police station where Ahirwar's father is
posted where the others raped her and filmed the incident. One of the
accused owns a mobile phone shop.

Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Santosh Mahto said, "The
rapists were very cruel and committed all sorts of indecent acts."
Mahto said the police identified the victim from the MMS clip. When
they reached the victim's home they found that her parents, who work
as labourers, were aware of the crime. Their neighbours had reportedly
advised them to keep quiet as the accused included sons of a
Government officer and a policeman.

The police have booked the six under various Sections of the IPC, the
SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Information Technology Act.

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

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/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] US lawmaker presses China, India over human trafficking

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jWsvXf3YBeS8dc8PKIOVbzefU0OQ?docId=CNG.f7300ef74beeac43ac28cc1528e9eb16.7d1

US lawmaker presses China, India over human trafficking
By Alex Ogle (AFP) – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON — A leading US lawmaker on Thursday urged President Barack
Obama's administration to ratchet up pressure on China and India over
sex-trafficking and modern day slavery that flourishes in both
countries.

Congressman Christopher Smith, who led the charge for the landmark
2000 law Trafficking Victims Protection Act, said the two Asian giants
were among the world's worst offenders in their disregard for forced
bondage and sexual exploitation.

At a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Smith urged
the State Department's office dedicated to combating human trafficking
to undertake a "comprehensive reassessment" of China and India.

He cited in particular Beijing's failure to prevent rampant
trafficking of North Korean refugees.

The countries risk being downgraded in the State Department's annual
"Trafficking in Persons" blacklist, and could face sanctions including
withholding non-humanitarian, non-trade related US aid, he said.

Smith said the problem with trafficking in China has become
particularly acute because of the country's "one child" law that has
led to a shortage of marriageable women and created "a colossal market
for bride selling."

Chinese demographers forecast that by 2020 some 40 million Chinese men
will not be able to find women to marry, Smith said, calling the one
child policy "barbaric."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made women's and
children's rights a signature issue, in June called human trafficking
a "terrible crime" as she unveiled a US report on the subject.

China and India were listed on the report's "tier two watch list," for
countries making "significant efforts to bring themselves into
compliance with minimum standards" on trafficking.

Lawmakers said however that they risk being regulated to the report's
bottom rung, alongside long-time violators North Korea and Burma.

As Congress prepares to take up a reauthorization bill to update the
2000 law for the next decade, the committee's chair Howard Berman said
huge challenges remain to combat the 32-billion-dollar-a-year industry
that sees humans "reduced to machines for production or pleasure."

Of the world's estimated 27 million modern day slaves, two thirds are
in India chiefly in bonded labor, the committee heard in testimony.
Smith slammed New Dehli's action on the issue as "not even remotely
commensurate with the size of its current problem."

The number of prosecutions for sex industry traffickers have risen
nominally in some Indian states, said advocate Beryl Ann D'Souza, who
heads anti-human trafficking efforts in India for the Dalit Freedom
Network.

Even with laws on the books, D'Souza said the sub-continent's approach
needs comprehensive overhaul, as only seven percent of India's police
force have received any type of anti-trafficking training.

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

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

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

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] Satire to savour

http://www.hindu.com/lr/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350240300.htm

ON THE HINDU BEST FICTION AWARD SHORTLIST

Satire to savour

BHAVANA SHARMA

Humorous, subtle, wicked… a combination that makes the book a good read.

Serious Men; Manu Joseph; Fourth Estate; Rs.499

After Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger we have yet another novel on
Indian satire, Manu Joseph's debut 'Serious Men'. With its provocative
wit, realistic portrayal of characters and humour , the book is a sure
winner. Manu Joseph's novel hammers in the hopelessness, boredom and
desperate ambitions of suburban Dalit community in Bombay, and he
weaves an interesting and funny satire on the academia of science,
love and revenge. Relationships form an important part of the novel
and Manu provides a stark insight into the workings of the human mind.
He strings together the powerful, comic and pungency of eccentric
people who are blind instruments of a dominant passion for quick
money, fame and social aggrandizement.

Storyline

The devious Ayyan Mani is stuck in a boring job as personal assistant
to the head astronomer named Arvind Acharya, at the Institute of
Theory and Research, Bombay. Acharya is powerful , conceited and
intelligent but too engrossed in his own scientific world. Although
Mani belongs to the Dalit community, he is not subdued but one who
stands out in a world moved by self interest and political design.
Wanting to associate himself with the heightened sense of life and
fulfillment he draws up a concoction of events and surreptitiously
achieves his goals. Mani spins an outrageous fiction around his
partially deaf, ten- year- old son Adi, forcing him to say things
like, "Prime numbers are unpredictable, D-e-c-i-m-a-l s-y-s-t-e-m and
Fee bon a chi" Into this kind of plot, however another dubious
character Oparna , the attractive young astrobiologer is introduced.
Acharya is enamoured by her and soon his fiefdom and Mani's politics
begin to surface. Acharya's career is shattered by an office scandal
and he is accused of forging scientific data. It is here that the
suspense builds up and one marvels at the author's treatment and
superb flexibility in the psychological development of the dramatic
situation.

There are indeed many moments where Joseph exposes the hypocrisy of
his characters by dropping in similes and witty remarks alike. As when
Manu aptly describes Mani, "Ayyan Mani's thick black hair was combed
sideways and parted by a careless broken line, like the borders the
British used to draw between two hostile neighbours ". Equally
noteworthy is when Ayyan Mani blurts out, "Wives of an age are like
evicted hawkers. They return in time". Quite apparent that people like
Mani who are down on the social scale,get along only by their wits.
Again the hilarious aspect is put in true prospective as we observe
Manu's description of Acharya: "Acharya did not realize that he had
been holding a half-eaten banana near his mouth for over five
minutes".

Brilliance

Serious Men is otherwise a remarkable and brilliant novel and if you
can dip into it , and it's dip worthy, you will definitely find
several moments to savour. The author's powerful mix of all the
ingredients of satire as also tactful juxtaposition makes his debut
novel a powerful and unique work. Joseph does this by making his
criticisms apparent in an entertaining format so that readers are
compelled to engage with the story and hopefully are taking away
something in the end to make them understand societal issues better.

In Adiga's novel the idea of a resentful , oppressed protagonist
Balram Halwai murdering his employer and getting away with it in
pursuit of his ideal of social mobility was not much of a novelty. I
found Balram, the main character unlikable, he seemed unable to feel
any sort of remorse for the terrible things he did. But in Joseph's
novel , the protagonist, Ayyan Mani , also a conman overshadowed by
his boss , is intelligent and appealing and someone we can empathise
with.

The book has one shortcoming. Descriptions of women - a bit of a let
down. However, it is a good read if one can let all that pass. As a
satirist, he has done a remarkable job, truly a book you should not
miss.The author was listed among the top new novelists of 2010 by the
British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

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

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

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

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] A PIL: Mahabali vs. Indian (Brahmin-Bania) State

http://www.countercurrents.org/karthik031010.htm

A PIL: Mahabali vs. Indian (Brahmin-Bania) State

By Karthick RM

03 October, 2010
Countercurrents.org

Honorable your Honour

I recently read the judgment of your colleagues on the Babri Masjid…
ooops… the Ramjanmabhoomi issue. I should say that I was thrilled.
Since legal bodies of our great modern country have extended their
jurisdiction to the unknown past to settle real or imagined religious
disputes, I make an appeal for my client with great confidence in your
rational-legal authority.

Since in the RJB judgment, 'Lord' Rama is accepted as a historical
character, I would like you to the consider the case of my client,
King Mahabali. Since you have managed to map out Ram lalla's birth to
a specific geographic region, we hope you would pay due regard to our
argument of the Kerala origins of Mahabali. Sir, we want to bring to
light the historical and religious injustice done to Mahabali and his
followers.

Mahabali was a righteous king who hailed from that section whom you
call in legal terms as 'backward castes'. He was to the oppressed
sections what 'Lord' Rama was to the upper castes. In case you need
more information on his historical significance, I would suggest that
you read Mahatma Phule's works, in case thy most knowledgeable self
has not already. His rule was considered to be one where there was a
just treatment of all sections of the population. However, jealous
with the virtuous rule of this backward caste king, Vishnu, in the
guise of a brahmin dwarf (Vamana), duped Mahabali and pushed him into
the underworld. (I think a case of impersonation can also be filed
against Vishnu).

Anyway, what happened over the years was that my client was denied his
place in history by the brahminical ruling classes and they also
crafted stories to justify his predicament, thereby legitimizing their
own rule. Result was disastrous for his people, the backward castes,
who comprise the majority of the population. Not only did they lose a
politico-spiritual symbol, it also meant material losses. Thanks to
Mr. Vishnu, they lost their wealth, their lands and above all, their
self-worth, being stigmatized and dehumanized for well over a
millennium. I am sure your honour understands the social and
historical significance of all this.

Thus, keeping the Allahabad verdict on RJB in mind, we would like you
to consider the following

1. That Kerala was the kingdom of Mahabali (if you go by Mahatma
Phule, it was much larger. But we are content with Kerala as of now)
which was unjustly usurped by the brahmins with the help of Mr.
Vamana, an alias of Mr. Vishnu.

2. That since Kerala is the birthplace of Mahabali lalla, we want
2/3rd of the land to go to his descendants, that is, the backward
castes - yes, even after Namboodripad's much talked of land reforms,
the brahmins still have enormous land-holdings in the state.

3. That an Archaeological Survey of India research team must
constituted to do a study of all brahminical temples in Kerala. If
evidence showing that they have been built over backward caste temples
is arrived at, steps for their demolition and the rebuilding of the
original temples should begin in earnest.

Regards

To be filed in any high court in Indian Territory

Karthick RM is a student-activist based in JNU, pursuing his Masters
in History.He is associated with the Delhi Tamil Students Union, a
Periyarite-Marxist group

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

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

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

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Sunday, October 3, 2010

[ZESTCaste] HBA demands to make Hyderabad second capital of country

[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl gangrape case: Deputy Collector’s son held

[ZESTCaste] US lawmaker presses China, India over human trafficking

[ZESTCaste] Satire to savour

[ZESTCaste] A PIL: Mahabali vs. Indian (Brahmin-Bania) State

Blog Archive