Friday, May 6, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit – Another Documentary on Dalit students suicide

 


The documentary 'Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit' is second in the series of our efforts to document caste-based discrimination prevalent in Indian higher education system resulting in large number of suicides of Dalit students in Indian campuses.

It is based on the testimonies of parents and family members of Dr Jaspreet Singh, 22 years, who was a student of Final Year, MBBS at Government Medical College, Chandigarh. 

Harrased due to his caste by one of the professors, Dr Jaspreet Singh committed suicide on 27th January, 2008, by hanging himself on the 5th floor of his college's library.
 


  • Please watch the documentary 'Dr Jaspreet Singh:The Death of Merit' at YouTube at below link   
http://youtu.be/Rd9lcsy9Ty8    or can watch it at our blog www.thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com 


About the documentary 

Dr Jaspreet Singh (1987-2008) was a school topper and quite bright Dalit student, from a very humble background. He used to clear all his papers without fail, in 4 years of his MBBS, till he met a professor whose criteria of merit was not Jaspreet's performance but his 'caste'.

Do whatever you can do, I will make you to do your MBBS all over again' was the taunt Prof N.K. Goel, Head of Department, Community Medcine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh used to make to a final year student who, in his 4 years of MBBS, had cleared each and every paper without fail.

Tensed and much humiliated Jaspreet informed many other faculty members and friends about the casteist behaviour of Prof Goel and his fear of being failed once again but to no avail. He was once again failed in the same paper by just one mark. Finally he committed suicide in the college's library leaving behind a suicide note mentioning the name of the professor and his casteist behaviour.

Only after the intervention of National Scheduled Caste Commission, police filed the case under SC/ST Act and the answer sheet of Dr Jaspreet Singh were sent to a panel of 3 external examiners for re-evalutaion.

And Dr Jaspreet passed the exam, but after his death. Three years after, his parents and two sisters are still fighting the case and waiting for justice, not only for their son, but like Dr Balmukund Bharti's parents, for all other Dalit students so that they do not suffer the fate of Jaspreet.


  • Please watch our first documentary 'The Death of Merit'  (in 2 parts) released on April 23, 2011 at YouTube at below link. It is on the suicide of Dr Balmukund Bharti from AIIMS, New Delhi. 
 

  • For the list of Dalit students committing suicide in last four years in India's premier educational institutions, please click here.
  • To read the report Caste Discrimination in IIT Delhi, please click here.
  • To read the article 'On Suicide, Caste and Higher Education, please click here

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Re: [ZESTCaste] Untouchability taking new forms, says study

 

Dear all

abs. true. statistics support that dalit non dlait diff in tn is higher than in india as a whole

the dalit squeeze in tn is very high. they are pushed out of rural areas either becasue of sale of agric. land (any way majority were landless) or acute discrimination and when they come to urban areas employment is for migrants and they face discrimination in education and other institutions. If there is any theft they are suspected in schools and colleges. 

I want to know is there evidence that discrimination is less in urban areas? yes, dalitt non dalit diff. in poverty is higher in urban than rural, but what about discrimination

There is an argument floating that dalits are better off in industries/services than agri. any evidence of less discrimination? it is hard for me to believe that such simple shifts can solve complex problems.

does migration to another state reduce caste discrimination  

Ranjani
--- On Thu, 5/5/11, Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com>
Subject: [ZESTCaste] Untouchability taking new forms, says study
To: "zestcaste" <zestcaste@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, 5 May, 2011, 7:24 PM

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/untouchability-taking-new-forms-says-study-480

Untouchability taking new forms, says study

May 5, 2011
G. Jagannath
chennai

Caste discrimination in Tamil Nadu appears to have moved with the
times and stayed abreast of new developments.

An attack on a dalit in Villoor village in Madurai, for riding a
motorcycle in the streets where caste Hindus reside, is not an
isolated incident.

A survey conducted by Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front
(TNUEF) in 22 districts has revealed the prevalence of 86 forms of
untouchability in the state's villages.

Dalits are not even allowed to use ringtones of movie songs. "A dalit
in Coimbatore was beaten by caste Hindus for using MGR movie song Naan
Aanaittal Adhu Nadanthu Vittaal as his ringtone," TNUEF convenor P.
Sampath said.

The discrimination against dalits even exists in matrimonial websites.
"We have come across entries made by upper caste persons stating that
dalits need not apply," he said.

In the survey, Mr Sampath said they come across the practice of dalits
being prevented from walking on the public road wearing slippers,
riding bicycles, wearing dhotis folded or polyester dhotis, wearing
towels on their shoulder, wearing cloth headgear, sporting thin line
moustaches and getting clothes washed or ironed.

Apart from the two-tumbler system and denial of temple entry, Mr
Sampath said dalits are not allowed to watch TV programmes in village
panchayats or speak or sing at any public platform.

In some villages, he said the postmen do not deliver letters to dalit
houses and the dalits have to obtain them from the post office. Dalits
are also prevented from rearing cattle or keeping male dogs.

Mr Sampath said untouchability is widely prevalent in the state as the
DMK government failed to take any concrete steps to eradicate the
practice.

"Even when we staged an agitation in Uthapuram, Kangiyanur and
Gudiyatham to seek action against dalit discrimination, the DMK
suppressed the struggle by arresting the protesting dalits," he said.

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[ZESTCaste] flight of upper caste doctors and engineers

 

Dear friends

As i took my ageing mother to her doctor in ao clinic (who also consults in govt hospital)- in all honesty an upper caste himself whom my mother has been seeing (read how caste operates in choice of doctor) he told me in private (he knows what work i do) that out of 47 doctors of upper caste from govt. medical college, only three are in India. The rest are abroad.

According to him most of the doctors who work in govt. are not the upper caste, who go abroad or to private sector. Why should the govt. allow upper caste access to govt medical college at all? Why not make it compulsory that any body who studies in govt. subsidised medical colleges and engineering colleges has to serve only in govt health and education facilities (rural for 15 years??)

In chennai the transport works well becasue people like me use it in addition to poor. Motivated by PHM i am now doing the same with regard to my health. the queue is long, one understands how the system works and able to complain on quality (not mustaf or armaan). but i have not got to the level of commitment required to put my child in govt. school at age 15.

yes i was in a private hsoptial last year wrongly diagnosed with typhoid for some time when i had hepatitis A. unnecessarily retained for eight days.

If we want equality rich or poor, dalits or non dalits should use same facility.

Ranjani

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[ZESTCaste] Five arrested for “abusing” Dalit youth near Madurai

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/02/stories/2011050252720300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Five arrested for "abusing" Dalit youth near Madurai

Special Correspondent

Superintendent of Police visits Villoor village, warns of stern action

MADURAI: The Madurai Rural Police arrested five persons on charges of
abusing a Dalit youth near here on Sunday.

According to police, the complainant Thangapandian of Villoor in
Peraiyur sub-division, he was allegedly abused by some villagers
belonging to caste Hindus, when he proceeded on his two-wheeler near
the Kaliamman Temple arch on Saturday night.

The Dalits alleged that there has been a practice that they should not
ride two wheelers while crossing the street of Caste Hindus.

When the information was brought to the notice of Superintendent of
Police Asra Garg, he directed the police to register a case.

After investigation, Kalligudi police registered cases under IPC
Sections 147, 341, 109, 506 (1) read with 3 (1) (v) and 3 (1) (x) of
SC/ST Prevention Act.

The names of the arrested were given as Satish Kumar (25) son of
Ramar, Pratap Singh (25) son of Saktivel, Balamurugan (25) son of
Gurusami, Karanthamalai (50) son of Ramasami and Samayan (42) son of
Sangili Thevar of the same village.

Meeting convened

On Sunday evening, Mr. Asra Garg visited the village and held talks
with the elders. While, the members representing caste Hindus alleged
that the Dalit youths drove in a rash and negligent manner on the
stretch, they insisted on not motoring down their vehicles.

This practice has been there for long years. Similarly, some others
claimed that the Dalit youths indulged in eve-teasing.

After listening to them, the SP said that in such cases, they (caste
Hindus) can prefer complaints with the police and assured of stern
action. He also held talks with the Dalit representatives who too
narrated their tales of woes. Mr. Garg said that untouchability in any
form would not be tolerated by the custodians of law.

He appealed to the villagers to live cordially and impressed upon them
about the need for contributing their energy for constructive
purposes.

"Each one of us had the responsibility in the nation building exercise
and in a modern era, such a kind of ill-treatment within us would only
be a retrograde step," he urged.

To ensure that there were no untoward incidents, strong police pickets
have been posted, a police officer said.


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[ZESTCaste] Now, a survey on status of Bihar's upper castes

 

http://twocircles.net/2011may06/now_survey_status_bihars_upper_castes.html

Now, a survey on status of Bihar's upper castes
Submitted by admin4 on 6 May 2011 - 12:06pm

By Imran Khan, IANS,

Patna : In a state divided on caste lines, surveys of Dalits, Other
Backward Classes and Muslims have been conducted in the past. But in a
first of its kind initiative, Bihar plans to conduct a survey in rural
areas to reach out to the poor among the upper castes.

"A survey of upper castes in all villages across the state would be
conducted by the commission to gather information about their real
socio-economic condition," Narendra Singh, a member of the Bihar State
Upper Caste Commission, told IANS.

Bihar State Upper Caste Commission or the Bihar Rajya Sawarna Ayog
plans to start the survey in June. A team would also visit the
divisional headquarters from May 25 to meet elected village body heads
and others.

"It is for the first time that a survey of upper castes would be
conducted by the commission to know their socio-economic condition.
Never before has such a move been made to help reach the poor among
all sections, including the upper castes," said A.K. Jha, a senior
researcher at Patna-based A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Science.

The state government had last month constituted an upper caste
commission to identify poor among the upper caste and to study the
problems faced by them. The commission would also examine whether the
poor upper castes are benefiting by the various welfare schemes of the
government.

The last caste census in Bihar was conducted in 1931 under British
rule in India. According to an estimate, at present upper castes
(including Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar and Kayasth) constitute about 13
percent of the state's 105 million population.

In 2000, the then chief minister Rabri Devi conducted a socio-economic
survey of Muslims, who constitute 16.5 percent of the state
population.

After coming to power in November 2005, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
brought with him a new slogan -- development with justice.

Bihar was the first state in the country to constitute a Mahadalit
Commission. It was decided that the commission would study the
socio-economic status of neglected subcastes among Dalits and suggest
ways to uplift them.

During campaigning for the state assembly elections last year, Nitish
Kumar had promised to set up a commission to study the problems faced
by the upper caste poor and launch welfare schemes for them if his
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) party was voted back to power.

But the move has met with some criticism.

J.P. Yadav, a backward caste activist, said the move was an
appeasement of upper castes. "It is known to all that upper castes are
still enjoying a strong hold over the socio-economic structure of
Bihar."

"They are dominating in all fields, be it business, bureaucracy,
judiciary, media or even politics. There may be poor upper caste but
their condition is far better than Dalits, backward castes and
Muslims," he said.

However, the fact that Nitish Kumar has already set up the Mahadalit
commission and given 20 percent reservation to extreme backward castes
in panchayat elections, works in his favour.

Political observers believe the upper caste commission was a move to
send a strong message that he was committed to inclusive development
for all.

In Bihar, members of the upper castes, particularly the Bhumihars and
Rajputs, own large tracts of land in rural areas.

In July last year, the Bandopadhayay Commission on land reforms
suggested the state government bring in a new act to protect
sharecroppers. It also recommended a cap on land owning and
computerising land records.

After the issue sparked a row in the state, Nitish Kumar tried to
pacify angry upper caste members by promising not to enact a new law
to protect farm tenants, who share crop with land-owners as rent, if
voted to power for the second time.

"Months before the campaign began, Nitish Kumar had assured the upper
castes that their land was safe and his government had no plans to
enact a new law to protect sharecroppers," a ruling Janata Dal-United
leader said.

"After winning a historical verdict, Nitish Kumar initiated a move to
provide help to the poor among the upper castes on the lines of
Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. The survey is the beginning of it," he
added.

Nearly 50 percent of Bihar's 105 million people live below the poverty
line (BPL), the highest in India, according to a World Bank report.

(Imran Khan can be contacted at imran.k@ians.in)

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[ZESTCaste] 5K dalits to convert to Buddhism

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/5K-dalits-to-convert-to-Buddhism/articleshow/8171802.cms

5K dalits to convert to Buddhism
Vijaysinh Parmar, TNN | May 5, 2011, 10.45pm IST

RAJKOT: Leaving behind the caste system, untouchability and
discrimination, large numbers of people from the Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes (OBC) will embrace Buddhism
on May 29 in Rajkot.

The Buddha Dhamma Deeksha Angikar Federation-Gujarat is organizing
this conversion program and the process for taking consent of the
people who want to adopt Buddhism has been initiated in the Saurashtra
region.

"We expect that more than 5,000 people will take deeksha and convert
to Buddhism, which was adopted by our great leader B R Ambedkar
decades ago. The people who are adopting this religion are mainly from
Saurashtra region like Rajkot, Porbandar, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagadh,
Jamnagar and Surendranagar. We have suffered a lot due to the caste
hierarchy for centuries, but Ambedkar showed us a different path - in
which there is no discrimination between human beings," said Parikshit
Rathod, convenor of the federation.

"We have already started the necessary process to file consent papers
of those people who want to adopt the Buddhism and they will be
verified by district administration and police as it is mandatory,"
said Rathod. On May 29, Bhante Dhammdoot Bhadant Sanghratna Manke
(President Paiya Meksha Sangh-Japan) and other religious leaders will
attend the programme at Chaudhary High School Ground in the city.

The federation is organizing conversion programs across the state,
inspiring people to adopt Buddhism. Some months ago, a similar
programme was held at Porbandar where more than 100 people, mainly
dalits had adopted Buddhism.

Interestingly, the federation has been distributing pamphlets for this
programme which praise chief minister Narendra Modi for promoting
Buddhist culture and heritage in the state. Recently, the state
government had charted out the plan to develop Buddhist sites. "CM
Modi has promised a Buddhist temple in the state and it is a proud
moment for all of us," the pamphlet said. When asked about it, Rathod
said that the state government should be appreciated for good things,
but we have also said that anti-conversion law passed by Gujarat state
is wrong and we condemn it.

The Buddha Dharma Deeksha Angikar Federation is organizing Buddha
Dharma Adoption Program on May 29 in Rajkot

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[ZESTCaste] Three in custody for bid to disrupt Dalit wedding

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Three-in-custody-for-bid-to-disrupt-Dalit-wedding/articleshow/8172413.cms

Three in custody for bid to disrupt Dalit wedding
TNN | May 5, 2011, 11.46pm IST

JAIPUR: Tension prevailed at a Bhilwara village after members of
another community tried to disrupt marriage rituals of a Dalit bride.
The police took three men into custody and lodged a case of atrocities
on Dalits against 100 others after they tried to stop a horse being
part of a procession. The procession continued under police
protection.

Police said the incident occured at Alagwas village in Kareda police
station area.

"Parasi, a scheduled caste (SC) girl, was to marry on Thursday. Her
family were performing a ritual called "Bindori" on Wednesday night in
which a horse was to take part," said a police officer.

When her family members reached a temple in the village, Gujjars
started a protest.

The father immediately informed the police following which a team went
there. "The presence of police initially did not make an impact. We
tried to sort out things peacefully, but they kept protesting against
the ritual, we took three men into custody for disturbing peace," the
officer added.

"We provided security to the family members until the rituals were
performed," the officer said.

Parsi's father Asuram feared that Gujjars could create a problem
during marriage.

"Additional force has been deployed to maintain law and order," the
officer said.

It is the second such incident in the village in the past three years.
In 2009 also, Gujjars had forced a groom to get down from his horse.

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Re: [ZESTCaste] One more party for Dalits in Uttar Pradesh

 

Poisonous mushrooms grow during election rainy season  in favor of
anti-SC/ST/OBC/Minorities and happy Sarvajan. After making some
cheap popularity they are weeded out.

POLITICS is SACRED with GOOD GOVERNANCE

KARNATAKA STATE BSP  Welcomes Behanji Ms Mayawati on 5th June 2011. All the State/Dist./Assembly and Sector and Office Bearers will attend the Camp which is first of its kind in the Country.
Karnataka BSP Co-ordinator Dr. Ashok Siddharth MLC explained the importance of the camp that will be addressed by Behanji Ms Mayawati to both B1 and B2 which is first of its kind in the entire Country. He explained that Manyawar Kanshiramji fulfilled the dream of Baba Saheb Dr. BR Ambedkar in cementing the society for the welfare and happiness of the entire society. Mr. Marasandra Muniyappa President Kar. BSP, Mr. N. Mahesh Convenor, KAR.BSP, Mr. Gopinath, Vice-President Kar. BSP and Koramangala Muniyappa explained the elaborate arrangement made for the success of the event.


BSP has pulled the plug
Upper caste and Muslim voters have already decided to be with BSP  to vote for in Uttar Pradesh.
To look into the future and predict the outcome of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh is a simple task for http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org which predicted more than 200 seats. Now its prediction is more than 300 seats which is from the horse's mouth that is the Upper Castes and Muslims.
 But the state's voter has shown to be a cunning being by mocking all post poll predictions in the 2007 polls by delivering a thundering victory to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on the state's 403 seats representative of a 19.95 crore population.
There was no serve all formula in UP's electoral battleground where a whopping 64 per cent of the population comes from the Scheduled and Backward castes who have traditionally been denied political representation by the 20 per cent upper castes. Since the early 1990s when this trend began to change it was accompanied by the BSP  striking roots in the state's fertile political soil.

In UP there the umbrella issue under which the voter stands united is Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation with the slogan "Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay ie., welfare and happiness for the entire3 people.

Mayawati still enjoys a larger than life presence. Even the most rabid of her critics nod in agreement with the observation that she has pulled the plug on criminals and life seems more secure under her rule. UP is a vast state which befuddles the best of political analysts. And a year is a long time in politics.
.


From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com>
To: zestcaste <zestcaste@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 4 May 2011 3:59 PM
Subject: [ZESTCaste] One more party for Dalits in Uttar Pradesh

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ws0405112CASTE.asp

One more party for Dalits in Uttar Pradesh

Former bureaucrat Udit Raj wants to challenge Mayawati's dominance by
giving voice to the margianlised among Dalits

Arpit Parashar
New Delhi

The political development of the last week have thrown a new, surprise
candidate in the power equation of caste politics. Former bureaucrat
Udit Raj, the man at the forefront of the campaign to push for OBC and
SC/ST reservations in the private sector, has formed a new
socio-political front called the Upekshit Dalit Mahapanchayat in Uttar
Pradesh.

Though politicians have heard of Raj's efforts, most of them have not
taken notice of the development. A senior BJP politician, speaking to
the media "off the record" after a press conference, laughingly
dismissed the "concept" of upekshit (marginalised) Dalits as
imaginary.

However, one must not forget that the initial reaction of the
mainstream parties to the formation of now-successful Dalit parties,
like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), was one of dismissal. The Congress
often ridiculed the rise of Mayawati's BSP two decades back. It seemed
to tell the BSP, "Align with a mainstream party, or you will lose
relevance."

Related

D for Dalit, D for defiance
Dalits, like flies to feudal lords
'Mayawati Is Insecure As A Woman And Dalit'

Ironically, in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the BSP has become the
mainstream party and the Congress a marginal player.

The Mayawati brand of politics and the successful assertion movement
led by the Kanshi Ram's Backward and Minority Communities Employees'
Federation (BAMCEF) has translated into successful electoral campaigns
and subsequent victories for the BSP over the years. She is presently
serving her fourth term as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, after
having served three short terms between 1995 and 2003.

And, she won in Uttar Pradesh on her own by engineering a major social
change last time around. She came to power without any support from
the Congress, the BJP, or the Samajwadi Party in 2007.

Why then has Raj formed a front that will only weaken a successful
movement of the country's most underprivileged and oppressed castes?
Observers believe that Raj's movement is an attempt at addressing the
problems that the Dalits face under Mayawati. They point out that
power, as is always the case in Uttar Pradesh, benefitted a particular
caste group.

"The question is not what Mayawati can do to [Dalits], but what we can
do to us," writer and journalist Chittibabu Padavala wrote about the
meaning of Mayawati's victory in 2007 in The Economic and Political
Weekly.

The Dalits have definitely benefited, not just by their own assertion
but with consistent efforts of the state government too. Caste
atrocities have reduced, affirmative action has been taken and they
are much better represented in the administrative and political
structures now. But, looking deeper, one finds it is only the Jatavs,
who are reaping benefits this time.

Raj says, "Only Jatavs!" And, why is it so? "Because Mayawati is a
Jatav too," says Raj.

Politicians and observers say that while power has changed hands and
the traditional ruling castes are no longer the ones in power, the
state has seen the emergence of a new feudal system with Jatavs as the
dominant caste.

Jatavs make up nearly 57 percent of the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, and
eight to nine per cent of its total population, almost same as that of
the Yadavs. The BSP broke the backbone of Samajwadi Party's successful
Yadav-Thakur voter base, using its stronghold among the Jatavs in
2007.

Jatavs are now emerging as an assertive caste in the state, especially
with their numbers in the administration growing rapidly in the past
decade. "A simple analysis of the data on recent appointments in the
police and the administration shows a 30 to 35 per cent increase in
the number of appointments of Jatavs," a senior BSP minister told
Tehelka on the condition of anonymity.
Mayawati

Mayawati

Many top postings are recommended from Lucknow. Many other happen
almost by default when the candidate is Jatav. It is considered a safe
bet to have a senior Jatav officer in any district administration.

The Jatavs have been politically conscious and involved since the time
of Babu Jagjivan Ram of the Congress in the 1960s. Then when Kanshi
Ram and Mayawati came together, Jatavs took the BAMCEF's assertion
movement forward. And they still do: they form a large chunk of the
BSP cadre.

"This constant hammering of her caste's identity has made them
politically forward looking," Raj says.

The other castes among the Dalits, on the other hand, are still
underrepresented in the state government jobs, making up barely five
to eight per cent of the force in the administration and the police in
the state, that too only on lower posts. Off the record, senior
officials in Uttar Pradesh say that most of the housing schemes for
Dalits in the state have benefited Jatavs more than any other caste.

"Fruits of governance have gone to just one caste. There is no
difference between this regime and the other regimes in the past.
Rather, the discrimination is much more open under Mayawati's rule,"
Raj alleges.

The socioeconomic rise of the Jatavs has on the one hand made them
confident, and they have stood up to the higher castes in the state,
while on the other hand they have also fallen prey to the feudal
practices alien to the Jatav society.

They are traditionally a more equal caste and not patriarchal. But,
that has changed over the past decade and has often resulted in crimes
against lower Dalit castes.

The number of rape cases involving Jatav men has seen a constant rise
in western Uttar Pradesh, a phenomenon, senior police officials say,
has not been noticed before. Jatavs are often caught in cases of
atrocities against other lower Dalit castes as well as the higher
castes.

In the Jewar village in Greater Noida near Delhi, where an
international airport and India's first F1 racing track will come up
soon, a minor girl from the Valmiki community was raped by a Jatav man
in 2008.

Her ordeal did not end there. She was married off to the man who raped
her within a few days. The village panchayat consulted both the
families in the presence of the police and elders made the decisions.
The girl now has two children and is not allowed to even step outside
the house.

This is not the only such case. There have been many similar cases
across western Uttar Pradesh involving Jatavs, information on which is
regularly fudged to keep the official counts down.

While Mayawati represents the political force that has consolidated
the Dalit vote, Raj partly represents the Dalit movement outside of
electoral political framework working towards a caste-less society. He
has led campaigns across the country as head of various Dalit unity
groups to open up the communities to conversion to other religions.
Thousands of Dalits have embraced Buddhism, Islam and Christianity and
snubbed the Hindutva forces, irking the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
similar groups repeatedly.

Raj has also challenged Mayawati many a time over the past decade to
embrace Buddhism and put an end to the casteist politics altogether.
"The objective is the revival of Buddhism to create a caste-less
society, so that the decadent social structure can be changed," he
says.

But, Mayawati has consistently attacked him and leaders from all other
lower Dalit castes in a derogatory way, he alleges. "Mayawati has been
repeatedly pointing out who belongs to which caste. She called Ram
Vilas Paswan a Dusadh, pointed out that Bangaru Laxman is a Valmiki,
and called me a Khatik," he said.

"And then in 2008 she announced that her successor will only be a
chamar. She has discriminated within the party and openly too. But,
you cannot, in India, in a democracy, say who will be your successor
and treat the voter base like it is your kingdom. Why preach about the
Bahujan samaj when you openly discriminate and say only a chamar will
be the successor? Why not any Ambedkarite, irrespective of the caste?"
he questions.

Raj formed the Indian Justice Party in 2003, after quitting a
government job in 2001. He had ideas very different from that of the
BSP. He wanted to push for an equal education system, job reservations
for Dalits in the private sector and unite the voters on those lines.

But, now he says it is not the way to go forward. A sense of
disillusionment over the four years of Mayawati's present rule has
changed his approach. "I have realised that ideology, development and
even honesty do not play a very important role in Uttar Pradesh. Caste
configurations and equations do," he says.

The main agendas of his party have not attracted the communities or
the voters. Hence, the new front with a different approach, he says.

Dalit leaders from other parties have joined him too. Ram Nihore
Rakesh from the Congress convinced him to form the Upeskshit Dalit
Mahapanchayat to fight the rights of castes lower in hierarchy, like
Pasi, Dhobi, Kori and Khatik.

"These castes are not aware, educated and conscious of participation
in the government and about their rights in governance," Raj says.

He realises that the caste system cannot be rooted out so easily; it
will exist; people in Uttar Pradesh will vote along caste lines.

He now plans to unite leaders representing the marginalised sections
from all parties and bring them together. He also wants to collaborate
with other parties representing marginalised groups, like the Peace
Party, which represents the Muslims in the state.

Jats found the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Yadavs and Gurjjars found Mulayam
Singh Yadav, Thakurs found Amar Singh and Jatavs found Mayawati. Maybe
it is time for another ignored section of Uttar Pradesh to find
representation in the state, where caste loyalties run deep.

Whether Udit Raj succeeds and his ideas translate into votes and
electoral success in the 2012 assembly elections or not, he can still
play a very important role in bringing debate to the Dalit discourse
and push the political system a step closer towards the marginalised
within the Dalits.

Arpit Parashar is a Senior Correspondent with Tehelka.com.
arpit.parashar@tehelka.com
   
Posted on 04 May 2011


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