Wednesday, January 12, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl rape: UP govt to arrest BSP MLA

 

http://news.oneindia.in/2011/01/12/dalit-girl-rape-case-bsp-mla-arrest-up-aid0102.html

January 12, 2011

Dalit girl rape: UP govt to arrest BSP MLA

Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 17:12 [IST]

Lucknow, Jan 12: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to arrest
BSP MLA, Purshottam Dwivedi, for allegedly raping a 17-year-old Dalit
girl. The investigating agency CB-CID found that MLA, who rejected the
allegations, raped her and falsely accused theft charges on the
victim.

Buzz up!
The Uttar Pradesh government had been in a tizzy over public outcry
from various political groups over the MLAs misdemeanor. Finally, the
Mayawati government appointed CB-CID for the investigation and brought
out the truth. Sources reported that police may arrest Purshottam, who
is under suspension, shortly.

Soon after the case popped up, MLA accused the victim of stealing
clothes and jewelery from his house. He also accused the girl with
stealing his pistol and Rs 5000.

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[ZESTCaste] India's outcasts put faith in English

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/11/learning-english-india-dalits-rahman

India's outcasts put faith in English

Dalits are building a temple in honour of a language they believe can
liberate them from the oppressions of the caste system

When India's prime minister Manmohan Singh recalled, during a lecture
at Oxford University in 2005, the legacies that his country had
inherited from British rule, he placed the English language and the
education system above all others.

This was a direct challenge to a century of nationalist rhetoric that
had characterised the language of the British Raj as an "enslaving
tool" imposed by colonisers.

Six years on, pro-English campaigners from the 200-million-strong
Dalit community, the oppressed "outcasts" of traditional Hinduism,
have gone a step further and are erecting a black granite temple
dedicated to the Goddess English, hailing her as a deity of liberation
from poverty, ignorance and oppression.

"She's modelled on the Statue of Liberty, holds aloft a pen and
India's constitution, and her pedestal isn't the usual lotus but a
computer monitor," said English teacher Amarchand Jauhar, supervising
the temple's construction in Banka village in northern Uttar Pradesh.
"Without English, nothing is possible for us Dalits."

The idea isn't new. It was propagated first by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,
a giant of India's early 20th-century freedom movement and chief
architect of its constitution, who was himself an "untouchable".

"Ambedkar compared English to the milk of the lioness, and said those
who drink it become stronger," said Chandra Bhan Prasad, Dalit
columnist, researcher and chief promoter of the pro-English campaign.
"If your child learns English it's as if he or she has inherited 100
acres of land."

D Shyam Babu, a Dalit scholar, agrees: "English is no longer just a
language – it's a skill. Without it you remain an unskilled labourer."

This idea resonates today especially due to the association of English
with India's technology boom, which is responsible for creating a new
middle-class of software programmers.

But it's as tough now for a poor Dalit to learn English, or to get
educated in any language, as it was for Ambedkar a century ago. The
British had introduced a state-run, egalitarian system of elementary
education, with the regional language as the medium of instruction and
English as a subject from the sixth standard onward. But the system
came to be monopolised by the upper castes. It was only thanks to the
English-medium schools run by Christian missionaries and the British
Army that "outcasts" such as Ambedkar could get a proper education.

Even today mission schools play an important role in the spread of
English. Raj Kumar was born to illiterate Dalits in a backward village
in Orissa. Kumar is now a professor of English at Delhi University,
and believes his amazing journey was possible because the standard of
English is better in his home state than in some others due to the
huge number of mission schools.

English as an instrument of social emancipation had been recognised by
reformers even before Ambedkar. In a poem entitled Mother English, the
legendary 19th-century educationist Savitri Phule wrote: "In such a
dismal time of ours / Come Mother English, this is your hour. / Throw
off the yoke of redundant belief / Break open the door, walk out in
relief."

Yet six decades after independence, the door remains shut in many
parts of India. At 54.7%, the literacy rate (although an unreliable
index of educational ability) for Dalits is a full 10 points below the
already low national average. Only forest-dwelling tribal groups fare
worse.

"The Indian state has perpetuated the colonial policy of not providing
proper education to the lower strata," said sociologist Vivek Kumar of
Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Rajendra Mamgain, director of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies,
adds: "The entire educational process is exclusionary."

Teachers are largely upper-caste, and mistreat Dalits. So do other
students. In rural schools, Dalits often have to sit separately, eat
separately, play separately and even drink water separately.

"They cannot identify with the curriculum either, so many drop out," said Kumar.

But caste bias is only one issue. Many teachers in the free state-run
primary school system are poorly trained, and are often absent. As a
result, a section of the urban poor make huge sacrifices to send
children to fee-charging, English-teaching private schools. But even
this option is missing in villages.

No wonder only a tiny proportion of youth make it to universities,
where instruction is in English. India's GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio)
in higher education is just 12.4%, roughly half the world average. But
the GER for rural Dalits is an abysmal 6%; for rural Dalit girls it is
less than 2%.

The government has finally woken up to the fact that the current 9%
GDP growth cannot be sustained without radically overhauling the
education system. Businesses complain that many college graduates are
unemployable. However, the nationalist bias against English is on the
wane, and the language is now taught in state schools from the age of
six.

"Amongst our priorities is a massive teacher training programme," says
Narendra Jadhav of India's planning commission.

Jadhav himself is a shining example of the transformative nature of
education. Born to illiterate Dalit parents, he is an accomplished
author, economist and educationist. "It's a self-evident truth that
Dalits should learn English wherever they can," he says.

Not all Dalit intellectuals agree. "My own estimate is that 20 to 30
million Dalits know English," says Kumar. "Yet English hasn't helped
liberate them. It's far-fetched to assume that English would absolve
Dalits of their stigmatised identity."

Nevertheless, Rashmi Sadana, who is researching the politics of
language, feels that "Prasad's headline-grabbing campaign draws
attention to India's great divide – English and non-English – which is
linked to issues of caste, class and gender. It's all to the good."

As Dalits flock to pay tribute to Goddess English in Banka, Prasad can
only hope that Phule's poem will reverberate across the land: "Learn
to read and write, Oh my dear one / Opportune times! Mother English
has come."


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[ZESTCaste] CPI (M) to start building Dalits' houses

 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article1081390.ece

CPI (M) to start building Dalits' houses
Staff Reporter

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will enter the house sites
allotted to 22 Dalit families in Ramavaram village, Choutealli
panchayat in Kaveripatinam Panchayat on January 31 and will start
building houses, said K. Balakrishnan, State president of the
Tamilnadu Vivasayigal Sangam here on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, he said, 22 Dalit families were denied entry
into their land allotted by the government three decades ago in
Ramavaram village despite having a court order in their favour.

In spite of agitations by the CPI (M) on different occasions, the
district administration miserably failed to help the Dalit families to
occupy the said land. Hence, the CPI (M) has decided to enter into the
land on January 31 and start construction activities for the Dalits.

In case, if any law and order problem arose on that day, the district
administration will be responsible for that, he warned.

Oppression against Dalits in the district was reported from many parts.

Wherever the oppression against Dalits was reported and the problems
identified by the CPI (M), the party intervened and took the issues to
the concerned authorities. No concrete action was initiated by the
district administration in many incidents.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit activist arrested for alleged Naxal links

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=20110104201101040202095098109b7de

Dalit activist arrested for alleged Naxal links

Sudhir Dhawale, editor of Marathi magazine Vidrohi, has been charged
with sedition

Jyoti Punwani

Posted On Tuesday, January 04, 2011 at 02:02:09 AM

Dalit activist and editor of Marathi magazine Vidrohi, Sudhir Dhawale,
was arrested on Monday morning at Gondia and charged with sedition
(sec 124) and under Secs 17, 20 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA).


These sections relate to: raising funds for terrorist acts; being a
member of a terrorist organisation and providing support to a
terrorist organisation.

Gondia Sub-Divisional Police Officer Borate told Mumbai Mirror that
Sudhir had been named by one Bhimrao, alias Bhanu Bhovate, whom he
described as a "State Committee Naxalite leader", arrested last week
in Gondia.

Bhovate had reportedly told police that he had given his computer,
which had Naxalite literature in it, to Sudhir. Thus it was necessary
to seize Sudhir's computer, said Borate. The police searched Sudhir's
home in Byculla for over three hours in the evening.

Sudhir Dhawale protesting Binayak Sen's arrest
Sudhir has been remanded in police custody till January 12. He had
addressed a Ambedkar-Phule Sahitya Sammelan near Wardha on Sunday, and
was on a train when he was arrested. Borate said they had been
trailing him for the last few days, emphasising that his arrest had
nothing to do with the Sammelan.

Expressing shock at his arrest, award-winning documentary maker Anand
Patwardhan compared it to that of Binayak Sen.

"I know Sudhir well. He is a gentle person. His arrest is an outrage.
It's like what happened with Dr Binayak Sen - hounding those who have
sympathy for the oppressed." Interestingly, Sudhir is an active member
of the Mumbai-based Committee for the Release of Binayak Sen.

A well-known name in Dalit and Left circles, Sudhir was one of the
founders of the Republican Panther Jaatiya Antachi Chalwal (movement
for annihilation of caste), formed on December 6, 2007, Dr Ambedkar's
Mahaparinirvan Day, at Shivaji Park.

This group grew out of the anger of Dalit youth against the Ramabai
Nagar firing (1997) and the Khairlanji killings (2006).

According to Shyam Sonar, a member of the Republican Panthers, their
group was created seeing the failure of the Dalit Panthers to live up
to their original aim of working among people to wipe out caste. "We
believe in raising awareness about atrocities on Dalits and the
government's destructive pattern of development in a democratic way,"
said Sonar.

A full-time activist, Sudhir edited the bi-monthly Marathi magazine
Vidrohi, which has among its editorial advisers Nikhil Wagle, Anand
Patwardhan, and Anand Teltumbde.

His wife, a nurse, ran their home, while his friends paid his mobile
bills and for his railway pass, said Sonar. Sudhir has two school
going children.

A year ago, Sudhir had performed Hindi film director Sagar Sarhadi's
play Raj Durbar in Nagpur. Describing him as a "decent man and an
enthusiastic and curious student of theatre", Sarhadi said his arrest
was a form of "witch hunting".

Folk artiste shahir Sambhaji Bhagat recalled having first met Sudhir
as a college student in Nagpur, where he had attended Bhagat's theatre
workshops. "Sudhir was very active in organising the parallel Vidrohi
Marathi Sahitya Sammelans," said Sambhaji. "He is also a good singer.
His arrest bodes ill for those who believe in open democratic work."

Last week, Home Minister Chidambaram had asked Maharashtra's police to
go on the offensive against Naxalites in the state. "When the
government puts pressure on the police, they catch Leftists who work
in an open manner because these are easy targets," said Anand
Patwardhan. "Dr Binayak Sen and now Sudhir, are being tarred as
Naxalites for doing human rights work. It is a continuation of the
dangerous pattern of blurring the lines in order to shut people up."


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[ZESTCaste] UP govt denying 23% quota to SC: Punia

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/UP-govt-denying-23-quota-to-SC-Punia/articleshow/7261402.cms

UP govt denying 23% quota to SC: Punia
TNN, Jan 11, 2011, 09.32pm IST

VARANASI: Alleging that the UP government had failed to provide the
prescribed 23% quota to scheduled castes in government services,
chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) PL
Punia claimed it was also misutilising the funds meant for the dalit.

Talking to media on Monday evening, Punia said as per the ratio of the
scheduled castes in the total population of the state, a provision had
been made to reserve 23% seats in government services. However, in
class-I only 12% seats had been filled with SC candidates while in
class-II and class-III the situation was no better as 15% and 17%
seats respectively had been given to the SC candidates.

In class-IV, the state government had claimed that 34% seats had been
given to SC candidates, said Punia. But, he said there were orders not
to include the figures of safai workers in the reserved seats of this
class and the state government had included them in the same 34%. "If
the figures of safai employees are separated from this 34%, it can be
found that the state government has not ensured the implementation of
the orders in this class as well," Punia claimed.

Misutilisation of funds reserved for dalit population in the Special
Component Plan (SCP) was also a cause of serious concern for the NCSC
chairman. He said the Delhi government had spent Rs 748 crore of SCP
in the preparations of the Commonwealth Games despite the fact that
the fund should have been utilised for dalits only. The fund was spent
in works like flyover construction, stadium and road construction as
well as gardening, he said. After the commission took a serious note
of it, he said, the Delhi government returned the fund.

"The UP government is also misutilising this fund," said Punia and
added SCP fund was being spent in creating five medical colleges in
the state at Jalaun, Kannoj, Saharanpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Banda. The
SCP fund was also being used in homoeopathy hospitals and in
increasing facilities at animal husbandry department. He said how was
the dalit population going to be benefited by that? "It should be made
clear whether only dalit students would be admitted to those medical
colleges or only dalits would be treated there," he pointed out.

Punia said report of the UP government had revealed that there had
been an increase of 24% in cases of atrocities against dalit in 2010.
He said provisions had also been made to provide compensation to
dalits in cases of crime committed against them but the Mayawati
government was not showing any interest in giving compensation to the
victims. He said his UP visits had irked the chief minister as he
created awareness among dalits about their rights.

Punia also delivered a special lecture on social cohesion and national
development organised by the social science faculty of Banaras Hindu
University on Tuesday. He said the commission had taken a serious note
of the suicide committed by Laxman Prasad of Jhansi after humiliation
by Rakhi Sawant in a reality show of a television channel. He said
that she had been summoned by the commission and a notice had been
served upon her.

Punia also attended a camp organised by the Peoples Vigilance
Committee on Human Rights in Badalpur to create awareness among the
scheduled tribes on Tuesday afternoon.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit women's aspirations brought home impact of 'double discrimination'

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/bangladesh-women

Dalit women's aspirations brought home impact of 'double discrimination'

Emily Esplen visited a community in Dhaka where inspiring community
organisers are showing change is possible

Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 11 January 2011 17.50 GMT
larger | smaller

When I met members of the Dalit Women's Forum in Dhaka last month,
they told me about the changes they want to see in their lives and
communities. They want their daughters to go to school and stay in
school. They want privacy and security when bathing in communal areas.
They want health care and clean water. They want to earn their own
money and not be dependent on their husbands and fathers.

These aspirations brought home to me the true meaning of "double
discrimination". Dalit women find themselves on the lowest rung of the
ladder in a rigid social hierarchy in which Dalits are classed as
'untouchables'.

Over 260 million people worldwide continue to suffer from caste
discrimination, one of the most severe and forgotten human rights
abuses that still persists in several countries. In Bangladesh, there
are around 5 million Dalits living in extreme poverty, deprived of
adequate housing, healthcare, education, sanitation and transport.

Dalits are literally separated from the rest of the population. They
are confined to living in so-called "colonies" that are perennially
flooded. They are restricted to working in jobs such as sweeping
streets and collecting rubbish and human waste.

Staggering as these realities are, we cannot talk about the human
rights of Dalit people without bringing up women's rights that are
also denied to Dalit women. Multiple layers of disadvantage have left
more than 96% of Dalit women in Dhaka illiterate - a majority of Dalit
girls drop out of school due to harassment and economic pressures.

Most are unemployed, as the limited jobs available to Dalits go to the
men. Cases of rape and violent crimes committed against Dalit women
are often ignored by police.

Inspiring community organisers such as Moni Rani Das, coordinator and
founder of the Dalit Women's Forum, remind us that change is possible.
Moni was the first Dalit girl to go to school in her community due to
support from her father, who later insisted that she marry when she
was 12. "After years of being a housewife, I realised I could not stay
home any longer and ignore the problems that Dalit women like myself
faced," she told me.

After organising within initially resistant communities and lobbying
dismissive public authorities, Moni says that the lives of Dalit women
are now changing, and the Bangladeshi government is beginning to
listen. The first step is empowering the very community one wishes to
transform. "We now go outside our houses and it is an incredible
precedent for Dalit women to earn their own money. This is the first
time that we have understood that the lives we lived before were not
human lives. "

Last month Moni received the One World Action/Sternberg Award in
recognition of her work promoting human rights and her success in
tackling the extreme poverty facing Dalit women. She is among the many
incredible Dalit women who have struggled against discrimination and
violence, but won't give up until their government and society take
action.

They are also calling on the international community to play their
part, and while in London, Moni met with UK parliamentarians and
policymakers to raise awareness of the issue of caste discrimination
and to endorse the United Nations Draft Guidelines and Principles to
Eliminate Discrimination Based on Work and Descent.

The extreme poverty of Dalits stems directly from their exclusion and
discrimination within political, economic and civic life.
International donors that support development initiatives need to
recognise that the poorest citizens in the developing world are also
the most excluded. Their empowerment will enable them to demand and
access jobs, education and public services, to be active agents of
their own development and to live a life of dignity.

Emily Esplen is the Women's Rights Co-ordinator for One World Action.
One World Action supports over 40 partner organisations in Asia, Latin
America and Africa, including the Bangladesh Dalit Rights Movement and
the Dalit Women's Forum.

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