Dalits Media Watch
English News Updates 28.06.16
Dalit man brutally assaulted by upper caste cattleherds - The Times Of India
No hair-cut for Dalits in this Muzzafarnagar village - Asian Age
B'luru inter-caste couple allege they were sacked by bank for damaging reputation - The News Minute
Settle Laxmipeta victims' issues in three months: SC panel chief - The Indian express
Activists trained in tracking atrocity cases - The Hindu
Tension in Gaya village after clash over power supply plea - The Times Of India
‘Appoint special prosecutor’ - The Hindu
Trial in Dalit youth murder case commences - The Hindu
Ambedkar varsity sees 173% rise in UG applications - The Times Of India
Bombay High Court converts petition into PIL about RTE - The Asian Age
‘Jati Hi Pooccho Sadhu Ki’ concludes Haryana kala Parishad’s theatre fest - Daily Excelsior
The Times Of India
Dalit man brutally assaulted by upper caste cattleherds
Arvind Chauhan| Jun 27, 2016, 07.08 PM IST
AGRA: In yet another grim reminder of caste wars in UP, a Dalit man was mercilessly thrashed with sticks by upper caste men just because he tried to save his herd of goats from buffaloes owned by the former.
Identified as Rajender Valmiki (35), the victim was beaten and even stoned until he passed out. The incident took place on Monday afternoon in Vidholi village in Kheragarh 30 km off AGRA city.
The victim, Rajender, who was too scared to spell out the details of the atrocity, said, "I had taken my herd of 25 goats for grazing when half a dozen buffaloes owned by upper caste men suddenly charged at my goats which were drinking water from the canal. When I tried to keep the buffaloes away from the herd of goat, the four men attacked me, abusing me verbally and making casteist remarks."
"Out of the four men, two were aged over 50, and asked their sons to beat me up with sticks until the skin peels off my back. I was treated worse than an animal," he said
After the incident, the victim went to police station Kheragarh to file an FIR against the four men and to be referred to government hospital for medical examination, but instead of helping the victim, the police did not entertain his complaint and claimed Rajender was lying.
Speaking to TOI, sub-inspector Arvind Kumar Yadav, who has been given temporary charge of the station in the absence of station officer Lekhraj Singh, said, "Rajender is lying, no such incident took place."
But when TOI questioned Yadav, about the severe lashes on Rajender's body, the officer declined to comment and said, "I'm now going to meet Rajender and find out the truth."
This is not the first incident of oppression and exploitation of Dalits in Agra and its neighbouring districts. On Sunday, in an unseemly display of caste prejudice, upper caste men refused to allow public land to be used for the cremation of slain CRPFconstable Vir Singh at his village, Nagla Kewal in Shikohabad, Firozabad district.
On May 11, a Dalit family was beaten up for accidentally touching the hands of a Brahmin man in the remote village of Kyuri village of Pinhat area in Agra.
On May 13, a 10-year-old Dalit boy was sodomised by a teenager in Agra. Also, a 14-year-old Dalit boy was reportedly sodomized by a gang of five boys of the same community in Dhanouli village in Malpura on April 9.
On June 16, a 12-year-old Dalit boy was electrocuted by upper caste men for plucking corn. On June 18, cattle smugglers ran over a Dalit man who tried to stop them from taking away his cattle in Firozabad.
Asian Age
No hair-cut for Dalits in this Muzzafarnagar village
Jun 27, 2016 |
Dalits are not allowed in the same salons where upper-class communities go for their haircuts in Muzaffarnagar's Bhup Khedi village.
Muzzafarnagar (UP): We have read in our history books about the time when our country was plagued by untouchability, when communities considered as untouchables were not allowed to enter public spaces and were socially secluded.
You would think have times changed and all communities are being given the same rights and freedoms enshrined in our constitution.
Believe it or not, there is still a village that follows the ancient tradition of caste based discrimination.
In Bhup Khedi village in Muzaffarnagar, Dalits are not allowed in the same salons where upper-class communities go for their haircuts. In fact, Thakurs of the village have announced a blanket ban, against Dalits from getting salon services from the shops they visit.
Located 80 kms from New Delhi, the Bhup Khedi village in Muzaffarnagar still follows laws made by the Thakurs which deny Dalits their rights.
Barbers in the village have been pressurized by the upper-caste not to provide any salon services to Dalits and have been warned of consequences otherwise.
The Dalits have decided to raise their voice against this injustice and bring an end to this age-old custom. They organised a panchayat to raise their voices against such laws.
"Since childhood we are seeing that our elders cannot get a hair-cut from the barbers in our village neither can we. Whenever we go to any shop the barber either gives excuse of being too busy or says directly that Thakurs have asked us not to cut your hair," said Harish Kumar, a member of the Dalit community.
To get the usual task of getting a haircut, these dalits have to travel to nearby villages and get the job done. No barber in their village agrees to provide them services.
Harish further said, "We have to travel to nearby villages to get a haircut. No one ever raised voice against this injustice or if someone even did, then they were muted by the hooligans. But now we have decided and stand united against this practice. Our panchayat pradhan also supports us. We will break this practice to an end at all cost and get treated with same respect as is mentioned for everyone in our constitution."
But this is not the only problem the victim community faces. They don't even get marriage proposals from outside the village as others think they are too oppressed.
Another Dalit from the village, Ram Phool, said "Neither our elders got a haircut nor did we. Even our children can't get a haircut in the village. We are troubled. We don't even get marriage proposals for our children as others tell us that we live under too much oppression. Thakurs consider you untouchable and have imposed prohibition. Now we want that we also get haircuts in the village itself."
Sheru, a barber, in the village said "When Thakurs pressurized me to not provide any service to Dalits I shut my shop. They threatened to beat me if I did so."
When the media approached Dinesh Kumar Singh, the Muzzafarnagar district magistrate for his comments, he said "I came to knew about this incident from you all and I will conduct an investigation in this regard. If anyone imposes any such order, it's wrong. We will not let this happen. We will investigate and take appropriate action."
The News Minute
B'luru inter-caste couple allege
they were sacked by bank for damaging reputation
We are taking a risk by going to work. But the point we are making is that caste discrimination is wrong
Sarayu Srinivasan| Saturday, June 25, 2016 - 20:05
"They would not let us work in the bank because of our inter-caste marriage, which they claim, has caused them damage," said Rakesh, a bank clerk in Bengaluru who married his colleague Unnati in November 2015.
Seven months after dismissing them allegedly without giving them a reason, the officials of Hotel Industrialist Co-operative Bank in the Chamrajpet area in Bengaluru have apparently called the couple to further discuss matters on June 27.
31-year-old Rakesh belongs to the Mogaveera caste, whereas his wife is a Brahmin.
Both were working as second division clerks in the bank – Rakesh for 9 years, and Unnati for 3 years. They had been in a relationship for over a year-and-a-half before their marriage.
"We were in love for over one-and-a-half years before the marriage. A few months after we fell in love, I told Unnati's parents that we wish to marry. But, they chided us and we did not bring it up. When Unnati's parents started looking for a groom, she panicked, and we decided to get married. We married on November 22, 2015, but told our parents only after the registration on December 9, 2015. After that there were many problems at our homes. We had to even seek police protection," he said.
Rakesh said that he and Unnati were not allowed to enter the bank from December 10.
Unnati also happens to be the niece of Pundalika Halambi, former president of the Karnataka Sahithya Parishad, who was also the Chairman of the bank.
Halambi passed away in April 2016.
“My uncle, who was the Chairman, told us that the marriage had caused damage to the family and to everyone, and made sure we did not enter the bank,” said Unnati.
While both await their reinstatement at the bank, Rakesh has been working as a cab driver to make ends meet.
"After some pressure from the media, they have asked us to come to the bank to discuss on June 27,"said Rakesh.
Asked if they are apprehensive about facing any discrimination in the bank when they return to work, Rakesh said, "That's the risk we are taking. But the point we are making is that caste discrimination is wrong."
Shyam Sundar, CEO of the Hotel and Industrialist Co-operative bank refused to comment on the issue.
The Indian express
Settle Laxmipeta victims' issues in three months: SC panel chief
By Express News Service Published: 28th June 2016 03:41 AM
SRIKAKULAM: SC, ST Commission chairman Karem Shivaji on Monday pulled up the Srikakulam district administration for slack implementation of the government welfare schemes for the beneficiaries.
At a coordination meeting of the chairman with all government departments at the collectorate to review the progress of welfare schemes, residents from Laxmipeta where five Dalits were killed during attacks by members of a BC community over land disputes in 2012, complained that the promises made by the government were yet to be fulfilled. Shivali asked collector P Lakshmi Narasimham to sort out all the issue in the next three months. With the Dalit families demanding jobs, he asked the DWAMA project director to generate employment from the very next day of the meeting.
The victims also brought to the notice of the commission that the special court proceedings to solve the ‘massacre’ was hit. with the staff having been on deputation. Shivaji asked the administration to revoke the deputations and ensure effective functioning of the court, with a rider to the police that the SC, ST atrocity cases be dealt with seriousness. He also pulled up Collector for not holding the mandatory half yearly meeting to review the progress of such cases. He asked collector to see that the backlog posts are filled by end of this month.
The Hindu
Activists trained in tracking atrocity cases
STAFF REPORTER
Dalit activists from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and several other states took part in a training programme on how to use annihilatecaste.in, an interactive website created by National Dalit Movement for Justice, to track and monitor cases of abuse against SC/ST community here on Monday.
The regional-level training programme was conducted to train field-level activists to use the tool – called ATM (Atrocity Tracking and Monitoring) – that can be used to share information and facts nationally about SC/ST cases and create a database of cases. One of the objectives is also to provide automatic alerts through emails and SMSs. So far, the details of close to 340 cases have been logged into the website and their status monitored by the activists.
“Though there are strong laws to protect Dalits against caste discrimination, most victims don’t really know how to use this law. The Prevention of Atrocities Act is also not implemented properly by government agencies. There is a need to raise awareness among the victims who are often clueless in the court of law,” says I. Pandian, director of Social Awareness Society for Youths, an NGO which is involved in the initiative.
He further said that an online repository of ongoing cases is necessary to constantly keep track of cases of atrocities and discrimination against SC/ST as justice is often delayed and denied in several cases. “It helps us in identifying those victims who are in need of help; it also enables joint action and coordination with other activists in India,” he says.
Usama Aslam, programme co-ordinator, Atrocity Tracking and Monitoring, introduced the various features of the website. The training programme will conclude on Tuesday.
The Times Of India
Tension in Gaya village after clash over power supply plea
Abdul Qadir| TNN | Jun 27, 2016, 10.43 AM IST
Gaya: Tension prevails in Katari village of Khizarsarai police station area of the district even on Monday as the less privileged area of the village has been denied power supplied through the power transformer installed on the other side of the divide.
A couple of days back, violence broke out, as the privileged villagers objected to OBC area seeking electricity from 'their' transformer.
Police sources said that following the demand of the dalits for power from their MP Arun Kumar (the area is part of the Jehanabad Parliamentary constituency), the socially privileged group gave a sound thrashing to the 'power hungry' forcing hospitalisation of more than half-a-dozen power seekers.
"The injured were subsequently admitted to the surgery ward of the Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College Hospital (ANMMCH). Some women who offered shield to their male family members too were thrashed. Those hospitalised include women also," said police sources adding t is alleged that the thrashing took place in the presence of the MP. Both groups claimed to have voted for Arun in the last Parliamentary elections.
Ruling JD (U)'s district chief Shaukat Ali met the injured in the hospital. According to Ali, he would be apprising the party leadership of the feelings of the aggrieved villagers. "Power to all has been chief minister Nitish Kumar's campaign theme in last year's assembly election. Denial of electricity to the less privileged areas is bound to cause concern in the corridors of power," he said.
Gaya DM Kumar Ravi said soon after the incident, he inquired from the field officials. "The field officials while confirming the incident informed that there is no caste angle to the dispute," said the DM.
"It was just a coincidence that those getting power and those not getting it belong to two different social groups. Magisterial inquiry is not required as FIR has been lodged in this connection and police are investigating the matter. One of the accused has already been arrested. Nobody will be allowed to take law into his hands," he added.
The DM also said that power connection will be made available to every Katari villager and no village strongman will be allowed to play any mischief. "The village was peaceful," said the DM.
The Hindu
‘Appoint special prosecutor’
STAFF REPORTER
A year after the mutilated body of V. Gokulraj of Omalur was found on the railway tracks near Pallipalayam, his mother V. Chitra has demanded that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case.
In a petition submitted to District Collector V. Dakshinamoorthy during the grievances day meeting here on Monday, she said that her son was abducted and murdered in Tiruchengode on June 24, 2015 and a case under Sections 363, 302 r/w 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and the scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was registered by the Tiruchengode Town police and the accused was arrested. The CB-CID that probed the case filed the charge sheet before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate that was later transferred to the court of Principal District Judge. She said that as per Section 4 (5) of ST and ST Act, 1995, the district magistrate, if desired by the victims of atrocity, can engage an eminent senior advocate for conducting case in the special courts on such payment of fee as he may consider appropriate.
Since, the law entitles provision for her, she wanted lawyer P. Mohan of Bhavani in Erode district to be appointed as government special lawyer to present the case in the court. She requested the Collector, who is also the district magistrate, to appoint him as the lawyer. The Collector received the petition and assured of action. Gokulraj brother V. Kalaiselvan accompanied her.
A total of 17 persons, including the founder of Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai S. Yuvaraj, were arrested in the case and charge sheet was served to them on March 3. Yuvaraj was recently released on conditional bail. The case is likely to come up for hearing next month.
The Hindu
Trial in Dalit youth murder case commences
STAFF REPORTER
Trial in Dalit youth Shankar’s murder case commenced in the Principal District and Sessions Judge’s court here on Monday.
Soon after the court proceedings began, Shankar’s wife Kausalya moved a petition seeking appointment of a specific person of her choice as public prosecutor for the case. Dismissing the plea, Principal District and Sessions Judge Alamelu Natarajan pointed out that Kausalya could not insist for a particular advocate as a prosecutor.
It should be noted that the government, a few days ago, had appointed U. Sankaranarayanan, a retired Deputy Director of Prosecution as the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for the case.
This apart, a battery of eminent legal persons including Assistant Director of Prosecutions (Erode) T. Rajasekaran, Additional Public Prosecutor (Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Tirupur) R. Senthil Kumar, and Special Public Prosecutor (SC/ST cases in Tirupur) S. Ruban, had been appointed to assist Mr. Sankaranarayanan.
Similarly, another petition was moved on the day by Prasanna alias Prasanna Kumar (19), one of the accused, seeking free legal assistance for him stating that he could not bear the expenses of employing a lawyer. The Judge forwarded the petition to District Legal Services Authority.
Witness examination
Examining the two witnesses in the case, Kausalya and autorickshaw driver Venugopal, was scheduled to begin on Monday. However, it was postponed as Mr. Sankaranarayan requested the court to hand over the copies of CCTV footages that purportedly showed Shankar and Kausalya were attacked by a gang at a public space in Udumalpet in March, to the 11 accused persons.
District and Sessions Judge Ms. Natarajan posted the next hearing for July 12.
The Times Of India
Ambedkar varsity sees 173% rise in UG applications
TNN | Jun 27, 2016, 11.56 PM IST
New Delhi: Ambedkar University, Delhi, (AUD) closed the applications for admissions on June 24, 2016, with 26,777 applications for its undergraduate programmes — a massive increase from last year's 9,778. The University added 200 seats at its new campus this year, bringing the total up to 445. But the number of applications has increased by over 173% in one year.
For the Kashmere Gate campus, which has 245 seats, the university received 15,823 applications; for its new Karampura campus, opening this year with 200 seats, it has received 10,954.
For its postgraduate courses with a total of 480 seats, AUD has received 7,885 applications, says Sanjay Sharma, dean, students' services. This, too, is a significant increase over last year's 5,687.
This year, the university has also waived fees for SC, ST and PwD (scheduled caste, tribe and persons with disability) categories for undergraduate classes.
The Kashmere Gate campus has 35 seats each in seven undergraduate programmes — economics, English, history, mathematics, psychology, sociology and social sciences and humanities. The Karampura campus will run courses in economics, English, psychology and social sciences and humanities. Applicants had to indicate their preference for campus at the time of application and separate merit lists will be drawn up for the two campuses. The syllabus will be the same.
AUD offers 15 postgraduate programmes English; history; development studies; environment and development; gender studies; phychology, visual art practice; psychotherapy and clinical thinking; literary art and critical thinking; economics, sociology, education, film studies.
Candidates who have already registered are applying separately for co-curricular activity (CCA) category from June 27 to July 2, 2016. The trials will be conducted on July 15 and the final list will be announced on July 18. AUD even has a single-girl-child category. Currently, only the Kashmere Gate campus has a hostel.
The Asian Age
Bombay High Court converts petition into PIL about RTE
Jun 28, 2016 | Age Correspondent Mumbai
The Bombay high court on Monday observed that the Right to Education (RTE) was not being properly implemented in the state and thus, converted a petition into PIL, asking the state how it was implementing the Act. The court also asked the union government if it had any policy to implement RTE. The court was hearing a petition filed by a woman after she was unable to pay Rs 19,500 to a school that asked for the same as school fees, the amount inclusive of the “Building Development Fund”
The division bench headed by Justice Vidyasagar Kanade — observing that while an individual had filed the petition, it was not the only case in the state and though RTE Act was in place, it was not being properly implemented —converted the petition into public interest litigation.
The bench asked the Maharashtra government what steps it had taken to implement the Act and also asked the union to inform the court about what kind of policy it had to implement RTE.
The court was hearing a petition filed by one Rita Kanojia through Advocate Prakash Wagh, seeking the court’s direction to school to grant her some relief in school fees of her child. Ms Kanojia has three children, of which two are studying in the same school. It may be recalled that this is the same matter in which Justice Kanade, on Friday, offered to pay a sum of Rs 10,500 to the petitioner from his own pocket so that she could pay her child’s fees. The petitioner stated before the court that she had lost her husband in July 2014 and was now working as a maidservant in some houses to make ends meet.
The court was informed that Ms Kanojia had approached the school to get her youngest son Kartik admitted to junior kindergarten and the school duty enrolled his name in the list of prospective students. Subsequently, the school asked her to deposit an amount of Rs 30,000 as fees for admission and handed over a slip which had the breakup of the fees including Rs 19,500 of total fees towards the “Building Development Fund”.
Ms Kanojia approached the school management and told them about the financial crisis she was going through. She also told them that she belonged to the Scheduled Caste category and as per rules, was entitled for relaxation of fees for her children but all her efforts were in vain.
The express Tribune
By Hafeez Tunio
Published: June 27, 2016
KARACHI: A Hindu reporter was forced to drink water from a separate glass at his workplace since his colleagues found out that he belongs to the scheduled caste.
Sahib Khan Oad works as a senior reporter with government news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), where he has been barred from drinking water in the same glass and sharing utensils with other Muslim staff.
Oad hails from Dadu district and has completed his Master’s from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad. He is now pursuing MPhil in mass communication from Sindh University. He was initially appointed as a reporter in APP Islamabad and was transferred to Hyderabad and then Karachi in April this year.
The discriminatory attitude started soon after his younger son, Raj Kumar, visited his office and everyone found out that he was Hindu. “Actually my name contains the word ‘Khan’ so everyone in the office initially thought I was Muslim,” he explained. “The bureau chief asked me to separate my drinking water glass in the office because some colleagues had reservations.”
Since Ramazan started, Oad’s work environment worsened. He is not allowed to sit at the same dining table at the time of Iftar and senior colleagues have suggested he bring his own plates and glasses if he wants to eat in the office. “I have now bought a separate glass and plate for the office,” he said.
APP Karachi bureau chief Parvez Aslam denied making any such request. “He was suffering from flu so we suggested he arrange a separate glass,” he said. Aslam pointed out that he supported Oad when he was transferred from Hyderabad and called the discrimination charges ‘total propaganda’. “You can come to my office and see how he eats Iftar with us,” he said.
Meanwhile, APP managing director Masood Malik said that they have started inquiry into the matter.
Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler), an organisation that works for labour rights, has written a letter to federal information minister Pervaiz Rashid against the discriminatory attitude.
“We are really shocked to know that a bureau chief of a government news agency has pressurised a reporter to drink in a separate glass because he is Hindu,” wrote Piler executive director Karmat Ali.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2016.
Daily Excelsior
‘Jati Hi Pooccho Sadhu Ki’ concludes Haryana kala Parishad’s theatre fest
Posted on 28/06/2016 by Dailyexcelsio
JAMMU, June 27: A compelling performance of Hindi drama ‘Jati Hi Pooccho Sadhu Ki’, based on original play by Vijay Tendulkar by Action Theatre Society, Rohtak, marked the conclusion of three-day theatre festival being organized by Haryana Kala Parishad, Chandigarh in collaboration with J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, at Abhinav Theatre, here today.
The play ‘Jati Hi Pooccho Sadhu Ki ‘which clearly contradicts what Bhagat Kabir once said ‘Jaati Na Pooccho Sadhu ki’, deals with the social conditions of 1980 that are still relevant even today. We are still seeped in the quagmire of illiteracy, casteism, unemployment and the play presents a satirical view of our democracy.
The plot of play revolves around the protagonist – Mahipat Babruvahan hailing from a village, Mahipat belongs to a lower caste. Hard work and perseverance enables him to acquire education and land a job as a professor. However, his caste becomes a stumbling block in his success. He reacts using various means to protect his position resulting in hilarious situations which ultimately land him back to square one.
Today’s production directed and designed by National School of Drama pass-out Dushyant Kumar, came out to be a very well designed play with lead actor Krishan Kumar in the role of Mahipat giving an impressive performance. He set the tone of the play with his opening long narrative.
The fast pace of the unfolding events was achieved through synchronized movements and groupings of actors in multiple roles. The light design by Dushyant was noticeable for its poetic effects, while background music by Pradeep with inclusion of modern day numbers not only successfully elevated the emotive content of the scenes but also added a touch of humor. The members of the cast included Sangeeta, Deepa, Manisha, Gyanesh, Mamata, Yash, Kanika, Kapil, Shubam and Surendra.
The festival which made possible for Haryana theatre artistes to perform in Jammu and interact with local groups was very much appreciated by the theatre fraternity of the winter capital.
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of “Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC”)
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of “Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC”)
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