. A 13-year-old Dalit boy in MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore was allegedly assaulted and his arm broken when he drank water from the well of an upper caste farmer on April 7.
A month earlier in Damoh district, a nine-year-old Dalit boy drowned in a well in March where he had gone to drink water after being denied access to the hand pump in his school. ...
Dalits can't draw water from well here http://timesofindia.indiatimes
Dalits in Bechar village draw water under police guard, attacked later
http://timesofindia.indiatimes
Bhecharaji (Mehsana): On a sweltering afternoon, a dozen-odd women of Bechar village in Mehsana sit a few steps away from the well with their pots. They plead with youths passing by to fetch them water, but to no avail. It is over an hour and half when finally, an old woman takes pity and starts filling up their pots, drawing water from the well.
So close, yet so far - for the thirsty dalit women. Caste keeps them away from quenching their thirst. In the village of 20,000, there are 200 dalit families here whose women are made to wait on a daily basis. A constant reminder that they are 'untouchables', they cannot touch the well from which higher caste community members draw water.
Prevalence of this practise - nine decades after Dr B R Ambedkar in 1927 launched 'Mahad Satyagraha', wherein he led dalits to fetch water from a public water-tank in a bid to break caste barriers and give out the message that no one is untouchable - bears testimony to the fact that Babasaheb's work remains unfinished.
It does not matter that the village falls in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Anandiben Patel. "We are from Valmiki community. We are not allowed to touch the village well," says Chandrika Sisodiya, 25. Shardaben Solanki, 45, says her community members remain dependent on some kind-hearted Bharwad women to help them draw water from the well. "We have water supply from tube-well, but it can't be consumed. It is laden with saline and dirt. It makes you fall sick."
Geeta Bharwad, who belongs to dominant OBC community, says "This rule was made by our forefathers that lower caste people should not be allowed to touch the well as the water would get polluted.
Village sarpanch Kanubhai Bharwad's father Popatbhai says, "We don't allow dalits to fetch water from the village well. This is our tradition and we follow it."
He says if the government takes Narmada waters to the taps of villagers, the practise will be rendered obsolete.
Similar situation prevails in Goda and Kumarkhan villages of Viramgam Taluka. Jagdish Chavda, villager of Goda, says, "We have two wells - one for dalits and second for higher castes. If there is problem with well for dalits, we have to buy water. We are not given water from the other well."
Dalit rights activist Kaushik Parmar says that the government has to focus on breaking the caste barrier by allowing dalits into main stream rather than holding a show biz in the name of Babasaheb.
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Dalits in Bechar village draw water under police guard, attacked laterhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes
Ahmedabad: A dalit family was attacked on Friday, for drawing water from a well in Bechar village of Bechraji taluka of Mehsana district by some persons of the Bharwad community. Four people, including a 14-year-old boy and two teenage girls suffered head injuries in the attack, said police.
This came was after the dalit community were allowed to draw water at the village for the first time following police intervention. After ToI report exposed the issue of dalits being barred from drawing water from the village well, a team of the Mehsana SC-ST Cell visited Bechar. During the visit, the sarpanch of the village accompanied the dalit community members as they drew water from the well. However, this harmony didn't last long, as a Bharwad family attacked the dalits with sticks for 'polluting their village well'.
S C Rathwa, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) with Mehsana Police's SC and ST cell, said that he and a social justice department officer visited the village."On April 14, we took the sarpanch to the village well and asked the dalits to draw water from it. The sarpanch gave an undertaking that the dalits would not be barred from drawing water," Rathwa said.
"On Friday however, a Bharwad family attacked the dalits saying that they were untouchables and 'had no right to pollute their water'," Rathwa added.
He said an FIR has been registered against one Viha Popat Bharwad and two members of his family under the Atrocities Act.
The victims were identified as Hina Solanki (18), Damini Solanki (15), Karan Solanki and Poonam Solani (33).
Dilip Solanki, whose family was attacked, said they were beaten brutally because they drew water from the village well. He alleged that their community have been socially boycotted and supplies of milk and vegetables to them were stopped by members of dominant castes.
The sarpanch of the village - Kanu Bharwad - said all the communities in the village were "living in harmony". About the violence, he said he was not at the village at that time.
------------------
Dalit women denied access to water in MP village on Ambedkar Jayantihttp://www.hindustantimes.com/
Dalits continue to be denied access to drinking water allegedly on caste lines in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
The latest incident was reported from Betul district on Monday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was praising the exalted persona of architect of constitution BR Ambedkar at latter’s birthplace 275 km away at Mhow-Indore.
Dalit woman in Barahwi village of Betul district, including Parwati were allegedly denied access to water from taps connected to a tube well, allegedly on caste lines.
The 45-year-old Ingle alleged that the Dalit women had gone to fetch water for an Ambedkar Jayanti program, when the women from the powerful Thakre clan stopped them from drawing water from the taps.
When the Dalits protested, the women from other caste allowed them to have water from two of the nine taps, but along with a rider that neither the Dalits nor their buckets should touch the water vessels of the other caste, which dominates the village.
The Dalits protested over this development, after which the women from the other caste started verbally abusing the Dalits and forced them to go away from the spot.
The matter was subsequently taken up by the village panchayat headed by a tribal sarpanch Mamta Sariyam, but with none of the two groups ready for a compromise, the matter remained unresolved.
Parwati and other Dalit women subsequently submitted a complaint to the Betul AJK police station on Friday morning, demanding action against the other caste women.
Acting in the matter, an AJK police team led by sub-inspector RK Bisare conducted on spot investigations in the village and recorded statements of all concerned. “We’ve recorded statements of both groups and will take necessary action in the matter on Saturday,” RK Bisare told Hindustan Times.
Several incidents of Dalits allegedly denied access to drinking water have been reported in the recent past in MP.
Past incidents
A 13-year-old Dalit boy in MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore was allegedly assaulted and his arm broken when he drank water from the well of an upper caste farmer on April 7.
A month earlier in Damoh district, a nine-year-old Dalit boy drowned in a well in March where he had gone to drink water after being denied access to the hand pump in his school.
The same month Dalits and Patels had clashed over drinking water dispute in Chhattarpur dispute and cases were lodged by both sides against each other.
A month earlier in Damoh district, a nine-year-old Dalit boy drowned in a well in March where he had gone to drink water after being denied access to the hand pump in his school. ...
Dalits can't draw water from well here http://timesofindia.indiatimes
Dalits in Bechar village draw water under police guard, attacked later
http://timesofindia.indiatimes
Bhecharaji (Mehsana): On a sweltering afternoon, a dozen-odd women of Bechar village in Mehsana sit a few steps away from the well with their pots. They plead with youths passing by to fetch them water, but to no avail. It is over an hour and half when finally, an old woman takes pity and starts filling up their pots, drawing water from the well.
So close, yet so far - for the thirsty dalit women. Caste keeps them away from quenching their thirst. In the village of 20,000, there are 200 dalit families here whose women are made to wait on a daily basis. A constant reminder that they are 'untouchables', they cannot touch the well from which higher caste community members draw water.
Prevalence of this practise - nine decades after Dr B R Ambedkar in 1927 launched 'Mahad Satyagraha', wherein he led dalits to fetch water from a public water-tank in a bid to break caste barriers and give out the message that no one is untouchable - bears testimony to the fact that Babasaheb's work remains unfinished.
It does not matter that the village falls in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Anandiben Patel. "We are from Valmiki community. We are not allowed to touch the village well," says Chandrika Sisodiya, 25. Shardaben Solanki, 45, says her community members remain dependent on some kind-hearted Bharwad women to help them draw water from the well. "We have water supply from tube-well, but it can't be consumed. It is laden with saline and dirt. It makes you fall sick."
Geeta Bharwad, who belongs to dominant OBC community, says "This rule was made by our forefathers that lower caste people should not be allowed to touch the well as the water would get polluted.
Village sarpanch Kanubhai Bharwad's father Popatbhai says, "We don't allow dalits to fetch water from the village well. This is our tradition and we follow it."
He says if the government takes Narmada waters to the taps of villagers, the practise will be rendered obsolete.
Similar situation prevails in Goda and Kumarkhan villages of Viramgam Taluka. Jagdish Chavda, villager of Goda, says, "We have two wells - one for dalits and second for higher castes. If there is problem with well for dalits, we have to buy water. We are not given water from the other well."
Dalit rights activist Kaushik Parmar says that the government has to focus on breaking the caste barrier by allowing dalits into main stream rather than holding a show biz in the name of Babasaheb.
-----------
Dalits in Bechar village draw water under police guard, attacked laterhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes
Ahmedabad: A dalit family was attacked on Friday, for drawing water from a well in Bechar village of Bechraji taluka of Mehsana district by some persons of the Bharwad community. Four people, including a 14-year-old boy and two teenage girls suffered head injuries in the attack, said police.
This came was after the dalit community were allowed to draw water at the village for the first time following police intervention. After ToI report exposed the issue of dalits being barred from drawing water from the village well, a team of the Mehsana SC-ST Cell visited Bechar. During the visit, the sarpanch of the village accompanied the dalit community members as they drew water from the well. However, this harmony didn't last long, as a Bharwad family attacked the dalits with sticks for 'polluting their village well'.
S C Rathwa, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) with Mehsana Police's SC and ST cell, said that he and a social justice department officer visited the village."On April 14, we took the sarpanch to the village well and asked the dalits to draw water from it. The sarpanch gave an undertaking that the dalits would not be barred from drawing water," Rathwa said.
"On Friday however, a Bharwad family attacked the dalits saying that they were untouchables and 'had no right to pollute their water'," Rathwa added.
He said an FIR has been registered against one Viha Popat Bharwad and two members of his family under the Atrocities Act.
The victims were identified as Hina Solanki (18), Damini Solanki (15), Karan Solanki and Poonam Solani (33).
Dilip Solanki, whose family was attacked, said they were beaten brutally because they drew water from the village well. He alleged that their community have been socially boycotted and supplies of milk and vegetables to them were stopped by members of dominant castes.
The sarpanch of the village - Kanu Bharwad - said all the communities in the village were "living in harmony". About the violence, he said he was not at the village at that time.
------------------
Dalit women denied access to water in MP village on Ambedkar Jayantihttp://www.hindustantimes.com/
Dalits continue to be denied access to drinking water allegedly on caste lines in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
The latest incident was reported from Betul district on Monday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was praising the exalted persona of architect of constitution BR Ambedkar at latter’s birthplace 275 km away at Mhow-Indore.
Dalit woman in Barahwi village of Betul district, including Parwati were allegedly denied access to water from taps connected to a tube well, allegedly on caste lines.
The 45-year-old Ingle alleged that the Dalit women had gone to fetch water for an Ambedkar Jayanti program, when the women from the powerful Thakre clan stopped them from drawing water from the taps.
When the Dalits protested, the women from other caste allowed them to have water from two of the nine taps, but along with a rider that neither the Dalits nor their buckets should touch the water vessels of the other caste, which dominates the village.
The Dalits protested over this development, after which the women from the other caste started verbally abusing the Dalits and forced them to go away from the spot.
The matter was subsequently taken up by the village panchayat headed by a tribal sarpanch Mamta Sariyam, but with none of the two groups ready for a compromise, the matter remained unresolved.
Parwati and other Dalit women subsequently submitted a complaint to the Betul AJK police station on Friday morning, demanding action against the other caste women.
Acting in the matter, an AJK police team led by sub-inspector RK Bisare conducted on spot investigations in the village and recorded statements of all concerned. “We’ve recorded statements of both groups and will take necessary action in the matter on Saturday,” RK Bisare told Hindustan Times.
Several incidents of Dalits allegedly denied access to drinking water have been reported in the recent past in MP.
Past incidents
A 13-year-old Dalit boy in MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home district Sehore was allegedly assaulted and his arm broken when he drank water from the well of an upper caste farmer on April 7.
A month earlier in Damoh district, a nine-year-old Dalit boy drowned in a well in March where he had gone to drink water after being denied access to the hand pump in his school.
The same month Dalits and Patels had clashed over drinking water dispute in Chhattarpur dispute and cases were lodged by both sides against each other.
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