Saturday, February 4, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Krishna Madiga demands CBI probe into Ambedkar Statues desecration (video)

 

http://www.andhravilas.com/movienews/263143/Krishna-Madiga-demands-CBI-probe-into-Ambedkar-Statues-desecration-Tv9.html

Krishna Madiga demands CBI probe into Ambedkar Statues desecration - Tv9

Date Updated: 1/30/2012

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[ZESTCaste] Maya’s white elephant down South

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=Ne110212Maya.asp

KARNATAKA

Maya's white elephant down South

The southward thrust of the BSP has achieved modest success so far but
the state party chief is under a cloud, writes Imran Khan
Muniyappa (centre) with BSP supporters

Flag-bearer Muniyappa (centre) with BSP supporters at a rally in the
Karnataka capital

Photo: Bangalore news photos

THE KARNATAKA BSP President Marasandra Muniyappa is doing a Mayawati
in Bengaluru. He has built a white mansion named after his leader and
a colony in the name of BSP founder Kanshi Ram. Unexceptional, except
for the fact that it is alleged he has done so by usurping land
belonging to poor Dalits. Not only is Muniyappa emulating his boss in
the amassing of personal property and building ostentatious memorials
to Dalit icons, he has been accused of cheating Dalits and grabbing
their property. Fed up with inaction, the Karnataka High Court
recently directed the home secretary, city police commissioner and the
chief secretary to explain why Muniyappa has not been arrested so far.
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ULFA: New Mission, Old Vision

Muniyappa, 54, currently the state BSP president, was an unknown
entity until the 2004 Assembly elections. Contesting from Satanur
constituency, his candidature had consolidated the constituency's
Dalit vote bank in favour of the BSP. Although he lost the election,
he managed to dent the Congress vote share, proving consequential in
the victory of the BJP.

According to his affidavit filed before the Election Commission, he
did not possess any land in 2004. Luck smiled on him in 2008 and he is
now rumoured to be worth Rs 500 crore. During a BSP convention
attended by Mayawati, he was made president of the state party.

In the words of former state president B Gopal, Muniyappa played the
caste card. Belonging to the Madiga (cobbler) caste, which forms 8
percent of the state population, he seemed to be the ideal choice for
the post. Unlike the Holiyars (bonded labourers), the BSP had not been
able to rope in the complete support of the Madigas. Says Gopal, a
Holiyar, "Mayawati thought since Holiyars were already consolidated by
the BSP, with Madiga consolidation, they could become a force to
reckon with in the state.'' However, he adds, Mayawati does not know
that Muniyappa has no real support base.

So far, 34 cases of land-grab, cheating, intimidation, attempt to
murder and extortion have been registered against him. His ire has
been directed mostly against his own community. And most of his
victims have been poor, helpless Dalits from whom he has usurped land.
And others who are not Dalits like V Shankar and Bashir Ahmed have
been threatened with rape cases and SC/ST atrocities case if they dare
to challenge him.

Some of the major cases against him are as follows:
1. LAKSHMIPURA: Eleven acres in Bengaluru North taluk, Yeshwanthpur,
Lakshmipura were originally allotted to five poor Dalit women. Under
the Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Land (PTCL) Act, 1978, land
given to ST/SC cannot be sold or bought (even by other Dalits) without
the permission of the state government. But Muniyappa managed to
transfer the land. He formed a layout in nine acres, naming it after
BSP founder Kanshi Ram. 'The Kanshi Ram Layout' — the streets of which
have been named after other Dalit icons Jyotiba Phule, Sahu Maharaj
and Gautam Buddha — now mocks those whose condition they sought to
improve.

In the remaining two acres, Muniyappa constructed Mayawati White
House, and got it inaugurated by the UP CM herself. Gowramma and
Jayamma, now destitute, have got an injunction from the court. But
they have paid a heavy price for taking legal recourse. On 6 January,
Muniyappa and his henchmen made an attempt on the life of their
brother Veeranna, 46. A shocked Veeranna told TEHELKA from his City
Bowring Hospital bed, "Being a Dalit leader, Muniyappa should have
been working for the upliftment of Dalits, but he has become the
oppressor." A case has been registered at Hebbal against Muniyappa,
his son Sandeep and a few others. Muniyappa told TEHELKA the layout
and his house have been built on property bought by him, and he has
legal papers to back it up. He said neither he nor any of his party
members attacked Veeranna.

2. NEW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LAND CASE: Thirty acres belonging to
Dalit families, handed over to them through the PTCL Act by the state
government, have been allegedly sold by Muniyappa. This 30-acre
granite land is said to have fetched him close to Rs 60 crore. A case
has been registered against him at the Kodihalli police station,
Bengaluru.

'Muniyappa should be working for the uplift of Dalits. But he has
become the oppressor,' says Veeranna

3. V SHANKAR LAND CASE: Eyeing a 10,000 sq ft plot in the heart of the
city, Muniyappa allegedly got his henchman Domlur V Muniswamy to
threaten former director of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) V
Shankar, 49. Shankar approached the Indiranagar police in 2009, even
confessing that he paid Rs 5 lakh to Muniswamy to reach a compromise.
But the threats continued unabated. Shankar also alleges that when he
brought the matter to Ulsoor Division Law Officer Venkataramanappa,
Muniyappa threatened him in front of the officer, warning that false
rape cases and cases under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act
would be filed against him.

4. DODDABALLAPUR LAND CASE: Around 200 acres of land near Anjanmurthy
layout in Bengaluru belonging to several Dalit families have been
acquired by Muniyappa through forged agreements. The landowners have
now filed a case against him, and are preparing to approach the court
to get their land back.

5. DODDABALLAPUR STONE QUARRY CASE: In another cheating case,
Muniyappa had sub-leased a stone quarry lease to one Syed Bashir Ahmed
in 2011, for which he took an advance of Rs 7 lakh. However, the lease
lapsed and due to environmental concerns further permission for
quarrying was denied. Muniyappa threatened to shoot Ahmed with the
rifle of the gunman provided to him by the government. A case of
cheating and criminal intimidation (under sections 420 and 506 of the
IPC) has been registered against him by the Thalaghat Pura Police of
Ramnagaram district. Muniyappa admits that he sub-leased his stone
quarry lease when it was about to expire. But he says Ahmed knew about
this at the time of signing the agreement.

THERE ARE other cases of alleged land-grab and extortion registered
against Muniyappa: the Nagadahalli land case, Rajankunte Housing
Corporation case and Byrasandra land case.

Dalits who lost their land have now come under the banner of DVSS —
Dalitarinda Dalitara Shoshana Virodhi Samithi — a forum against Dalit
oppression. In a case filed by them, the high court has asked the home
secretary, city police commissioner and chief secretary to give
reasons why this man, despite having a dozen cases registered against
him, has managed to hood-wink the law.

"I vaguely recall references like that being made but am not in a
position to tell you right now," said Home Secretary, RH Auradhkar,
when asked about these cases. City Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash
Mirji, however, remembers the details. "We took action against him
(Muniyappa) earlier," he says. "But he got bail. We will do whatever
the court directs us to."

When contacted, the BSP President said all the cases against him are
politically motivated, and have been filed at the behest of Congress
leader and MoS in the Railways KH Muniyappa, a Madiga Dalit. Since the
2004 Assembly poll, he said, the Congress party has lost 42 seats
because of the BSP and has been able to win only 68 seats in the House
of 224.

Imran Khan is a Senior Correspondent with Tehelka.com.
imran@tehelka.com


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[ZESTCaste] Poll Talk: Kanshi Ram’s brother knocks EC door against covering statues

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/poll-talk-kanshi-rams-brother-knocks-ec-door-against-covering-statues/907780/

Poll Talk: Kanshi Ram's brother knocks EC door against covering statues
Express news service Posted online: Sat Feb 04 2012, 03:08 hrs
Lucknow : Dalbara Singh, brother of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, on Friday
lodged a complaint to UP's Assistant Chief Electoral Officer that the
statues of Late Kanshi Ram were also covered by the state government
along with those of Mayawati, without any order from the Election
Commission. Singh complained that the state government had covered the
statue of Kanshi Ram which is installed besides Mayawati's statue at
Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal in Lucknow.

Fake Voter card racket busted

Lucknow: Police arrested seven people allegedly involved in making
fake voter cards in Tulsipur area of Balrampur. Ashwani Mani Tripathi,
Brijesh Dwivedi, Pappu, Firaz Ahmed, Kamal Warsi, Narendra Mohan, and
Ramjiyavan, all residents of Balrampur, were arrested by police on
Thursday night for being involved in forgery of voter cards. Police
seized 104 fake voter cards, 12 EC's holograms and four computers. An
Fir has been lodged.


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[ZESTCaste] Bandh observed against desecration of statues

 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article2857108.ece

PEDANA/MACHILIPATNAM (KRISHNA DT.), February 3, 2012
Bandh observed against desecration of statues
Special Correspondent

Political leaders, cutting across party lines, participated in the
day-long bandh and forced businessmen to down their shutters both in
Machilipatnam and Pedana towns on Thursday protesting against
desecration of B.R. Ambedkar statues in Amalapuram recently.

The protesters stopped all vehicular traffic in the towns and RTC
buses did not ply till afternoon. The Pedana bus-station wore a
deserted look with only a handful of passengers waiting for buses as
long-distance autorickshaws also did not ply.

Leading the agitation in Pedana, Durgamukhi Chandrababu told The Hindu
that a majority of traders and autorickshaw owners voluntarily downed
their shutters and stopped plying vehicles. All educational
institutions declared a holiday in the towns.

Streets too wore a deserted look. The Pedana municipal office was
locked from outside. Its main gate was also locked so that none
entered the premises. Banks and commercial establishments too did not
function in Pedana. The Mahatma Gandhi Municipal Marketing Complex was
closed.

Small-time vendors selling fruits and vegetables on the roadside were
not affected. Medical shops were exempted from bandh. The protesters
demanded that those responsible for the vandalism be brought to book.

Ayub Khan of the YSR Congress, Kataka Prasad of the Congress,
Yellakala Sambayya of the TDP, Narasimha Rao of the CPI(M) and
Jyothiswara Rao of the BJP participated.

At Machilipatnam, police personnel guarded the commercial
establishments. The protesters went round the town raising slogans
against the people who desecrated the statues.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits see hypocrisy behind CPM’s support

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/kochi/39878-dalits-see-hypocrisy-behind-cpms-support.html

Dalits see hypocrisy behind CPM's support

Friday, 03 February 2012 22:16
VR Jayaraj | Kochi

Prominent Dalit organizations and intellectuals in Kerala are refusing
to accept as genuine the support offered to them by the CPI(M) in the
draft political resolution it has p repared for presentation at the 20
the party congress to be held in Kozhikode in April

Most of such organizations are viewing the "newfound love for Dalits"
(as an intellectual puts it) of the Marxists as a hypocritical posture
it has been forced to adopt in the context of unprecedented erosion in
its working class and middle class base.

The draft political resolution of the CPI(M) for the congress says
"The fight against untouchability and caste oppression of Dalits has
to be actively taken up by the party". But a prominent Dalit
intellectual asked, "What were the Marxists doing all these decades?
Is it that they came to know of the oppression of the Dalits only
now?"

He said the CPI(M) had "never ever even pretended" in the recent past
that they were worried about the Dalits' suffering. "When we were
agitating for land to live on and to cultivate, the CPI(M) masters
were more worried about the protection of the lands of their middle
class supporters," he said.

A leader of the Sadhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi, a Dalit forum
which had spearheaded a four-year-long, arduous agitation for land to
live on when the CPI(M)-led LDF was in power in Kerala, said the
"Marxist masters" had even threatened to send police with teeth and
claw to quell the struggle. "They are now asking us to trust them," he
said.

Pointing out that the draft resolution of the CPI(M) had identified
"landlessness and denial of access to water supply, public roads and
other services" as factors that affected Dalits' lives", the Dalit
leader said the party was perhaps for the first time understanding why
it had lost West Bengal to Mamata and Maoists".

"As far as we are concerned, there is no difference between the CPI(M)
and the Congress-led Government in the Centre. Their approach to us –
and also the Adivasis – is the same in Kerala as well as in the
national level. The Marxists are now worried because we are beginning
to identify our inner strength, which is detrimental to their
interests," he said.

Dalit leaders say that the CPI(M) has not yet been able to understand
the value of identity politics in India, a country of complex
religious, caste and cultural systems. Dalit intellectual Soman of
Alappuzha said the Marxists were still living in "a fool's paradise"
with their reductionist theory that everything in the human world was
determined by class war.

Even the draft political resolution itself is saying, "The growth of
identity politics based on caste, religion, tribe and ethnicity is
posing a major challenge for Left politics in the country. The ruling
classes and imperialist finance capital find such politics eminently
suitable for their interests."

Soman said that Marxists in India were still formulating their
political programmes on the basis of 19th century theorizations by
Karl Marx in that age's European reality. "They have not yet learned
that a society's politics is determined by its own inner dynamics and
dialectics. I think Marx himself would have advised them so if he were
alive today," he said.


Kerala Reds reiterate their 'respect' for Christ

Kerala's CPI(M) leadership on Friday officially justified the
featuring of Jesus Christ as a revolutionary along with Ernesto (Che)
Guevara in a party-organized exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram even as
protests were aired by Christians against the Marxist act and the
Congress party warned that it could hurt the religious sentiments of
the believers.

"We respect Jesus Christ as one of the greatest liberation fighters of
world history," State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday
while inaugurating a national seminar in Thiruvananthapuram in
connection with the State conference of the party to be held from
February 7 in preparation for its 20th national congress in April.

"The Holy Bible itself has described how Jesus had driven out loan
sharks and black-marketers from the temple of God by flogging them
mercilessly. You can't prevent the communists from respecting that
Christ," Pinarayi said.

Jesus Christ's picture is featuring at the CPI(M)'s history exhibition
titled "Martyrdom: From Christ to Che". Observers are of the opinion
that the incident could lead to reopening of the confrontation between
the CPI(M) and the Church after a long lull.

Meanwhile, State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala warned the
CPI(M) against using Christ's picture for political campaigns, saying
it could hurt the sentiments of the believers. "The Satan had tested
Jesus in the desert. Now the Marxists are testing Christ in their
exhibition," Chennithala said.

Activists of the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) held a protest
demonstration in Thalassery, Kannur on Friday "against misuse of
Christ' picture" by Marxists for parochial goals and demanding an
apology from them.


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[ZESTCaste] Poll Plan: Caste shadows poll issues in U.P.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2857849.ece

Barabanki, February 4, 2012
Poll Plan: Caste shadows poll issues in U.P.
Atiq Khan

Putti Lal, a Dalit, lost his job as a cook in the primary school in
Harak block in Zaidpur (SC) constituency in Barabanki district as the
children from the upper castes refused to eat the food cooked by him.

Ram Sewak Yadav of Satrohanpur village in Daryabad constituency has to
get his quota of DAP manure at the black market rate of Rs. 1,000 per
bag, and urea at the rate of Rs. 450 per bag. Reason: the bulk of the
fertiliser and manure are cornered by the "dabang" (powerful), not
necessarily from the upper castes. The Kurmis in the region are rich
farmers and equally powerful.

Welcome to Barabanki, the caste cauldron of central Uttar Pradesh,
once famed for its opium cultivation conjoined with the dubious
distinction of being part of illegal drug traffic in the State.
Barabanki is a curious mix of metalled roads, dusty hamlets, lush
fields and negligible industries. This is typical of a district where
the upper castes and the "dabang" exist side by side with the lower
castes and the downtrodden. Small wonder that both, the Bahujan Samaj
Party and the Congress (read Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma)
are eager to net maximum gains through their own method of caste
arithmetic. Their weapon is caste politics. Also aiming for a share in
the caste pie are the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Since Barabanki is Beni Prasad Verma's home district, the people here
talk about the 'Beni factor' dominating the Congress poll campaign.
"Potable water is a problem area but Beni babu cannot be faulted for
it," said Mansha Ram Verma of Birauli village in Daryabad Assembly
constituency.

The contest in Daryabad is an interesting one with the Steel
Minister's son, Rakesh Kumar Verma, pitted against three-time MLA of
the Samajwadi Party, Rajiv Kumar Singh. Also in the fray is Vivekanand
Pandey of the BSP.

The constituency has about 65,000 Rawat or Pasi scheduled caste
voters, followed by around 30,000 Gautam or Chamar SC voters. The
Kurmis, the OBC caste to which the Union Steel Minister belongs,
number around 20,000 in Daryabad. Besides, there are 25,000 Muslims,
18,000 Brahmins and 20,000 Yadavs.

Barabanki is one of the districts with a large concentration of Dalit
voters, around 7.2 lakh. Here, the Kurmis also exercise a domineering
influence on the outcome of the elections. And among the Dalits, it is
the population of the Pasis which exceeds that of the Gautams — or
Chamar sub-caste of the Dalits — the caste to which the Bahujan Samaj
Party president belongs. So it is not surprising to find the caste
factor overshadowing the more pressing issues of development and basic
needs of the people when it came to the selection of candidates.

"Mayawati has mastered the technique of building cross-caste
alliances, as was evident in the BSP's success in the 2007 Assembly
elections. Her approach in the forthcoming polls towards stitching an
alliance between caste groups opposed to each other is no different,
the ability to solicit the support of her core vote bank of the Chamar
Dalit sub-caste has helped her", said a professor of Saket Post
Graduate College in neighbouring Faizabad.

In fact, Barabanki presents a classic case of the distribution of
candidates taking into account their castes alone — this is true
elsewhere in the State. In two Scheduled Caste constituencies of
Zaidpur and Haidergarh, the BSP president has given tickets to Ved
Prakash Rawat and Ram Narain Rawat, in the hope that the Pasi votes
will combine with the Chamar votes to ensure her victory.

As Putti LaL of Harak village remarked, "The Harijans (to be read as
Chamar) will vote for Behenji (Mayawati) and the 'jaati' ( to be read
as Pasis) votes will go to the two Rawats". In the caste politics of
Uttar Pradesh, the Chamar and Pasi sub-castes of the Dalits have
always been at logger heads. The Pasis, who are mostly into
pig-rearing in the rural areas, have not progressed in comparison to
the other Dalit sub-castes, mainly the Gautams (Chamars).

The Congress too is not far behind in playing the caste card for
electoral gains. For instance, Mr. Verma's son Rakesh from Daryabad is
a Kurmi, Baijnath Rawat in the Pasi-dominated Zaidpur (SC) belongs to
this caste; and RK Chaudhri, fielded from Haidergarh (SC), is also a
Pasi.

Incidentally, the Steel Minister has been accused of managing about 60
percent of tickets for the OBCs — Kurmis and Yadavs — in the 55
constituencies where elections are to be held in the first phase on
February 8. Apart from the constituencies in Barabanki, Mr. Verma's
clout extends to Bahraich and Gonda districts as well.

In this mad rush for caste votes, development has merited just a
passing reference in political speeches like: "U.P. kyon pichhra (why
is U.P. backward)?" No political party, however, is ready to take the
blame for the lack of development, especially in rural areas.


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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati plays caste card

 

http://zeenews.india.com/state-elections-2012/up/mayawati-plays-caste-card_756630.html

Mayawati plays caste card
Last Updated: Saturday, February 04, 2012, 13:07

Gonda: Attacking the Congress party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati has alleged that the Central Government has scuttled
development projects due to her low caste.

Addressing an election rally in Gonda, Mayawati said: "The Central
Government has discriminated against my government on the basis of
caste and refused to give permission for many projects which could
have benefited the people of the state."

Hailing her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-led state government, Mayawati
said: "My government has done many historic and extremely important
works in order to bring development and strengthen law and order
situation in the state, which has not been done by any state
government combined if compared over the past years."

"To support this with an important example is the increase in Uttar
Pradesh's development rate which has been raised from a poor three
percent to seven percent due to the tireless efforts of my party," she
added.

She urged people to be careful in choosing which political party to
vote for in order to maintain development of the state.

"If due to your carelessness and immaturity the Samajwadi Party comes
back to power then once again the goons of the outfit would reign in
the state," she added.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh are being viewed as an opportunity for major
parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest
and most populous state.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted between February 8 and March
3, and counting will take place on March 6.

A new 403-member state assembly will be elected in March. The poll
results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections.

ANI

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