Dalits Media Watch News Updates 21.01.14 Dalits to approach SC/ST panel- The Hindu thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/dalits-to-approach-scst-panel/article5599580.ece Dalit Sena plea on student suicides- The Hindu thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/dalit-sena-plea-on-student-suicides/article5599899.ece 15 houses destroyed in fire- The Hindu thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/15-houses-destroyed-in-fire/article5599664.ece dna edit: Discriminatory traditions- DNA dnaindia/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-discriminatory-traditions-1954468 CPM stages protest against atrocities on Dalits- Deccan Herald deccanherald/content/381804/cpm-stages-protest-against-atrocities.html ‘Address problems of farmers, Dalits’- The Hindu thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/address-problems-of-farmers-dalits/article5599545.ece Tracing Caste and Democracy- The New Indian Express newindianexpress/cities/bangalore/Tracing-Caste-and-Democracy/2014/01/21/article2010641.ece1 Six-day workshop for Dalit scholars- The Hindu thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/sixday-workshop-for-dalit-scholars/article5599683.ece The Hindu Dalits to approach SC/ST panel thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/dalits-to-approach-scst-panel/article5599580.ece “Officials have demolished their houses in violation of Government Order’’ A group of Dalits, who had lost their homes in an encroachment eviction drive conducted along the Tamirabharani watercourse here, has decided to approach the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. The group, all scavengers and coolies, who submitted a petition to Collector M. Karunakaran on Monday, said they were living at Bharathi Colony near Meenakshipuram in Tirunelveli Junction for the past 45 years. Their dwellings made on watercourse poramboke, termed as encroachments by the Public Works Department, were demolished on July 9, 2012. Though the residents of these houses had been given drinking water connections, power supply, ration card, Electors’ Photo Identity Cards, the houses were razed down. “However, the Corporation surveyor’s reply given for a query raised under the Right to Information Act shows that the land on which the houses had been constructed was classified as an unused graveyard poramboke, which can be given to the public, as per the Government Order 75 of February 5, 2000 (issued by Revenue Department),” said S. Murugan, one of the petitioners. As per this Government Order, people who have constructed their houses on unused grazing poramboke, graveyard poramboke or ‘paattai’ poramboke lands and have been living there for more than 10 years, can be given patta. “Since we have been living on the unused graveyard poramboke land for more than 45 years, the officials should have given us patta as per the Government Order and our houses should have been exempted from the eviction drive. But the officials have wrongly treated our land as watercourse poramboke and demolished our houses,” said A. Madasamy, another petitioner. Since the government officials have demolished the houses without following the Government Order, the affected have decided to approach the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes besides exploring legal options, said the affected persons, who staged a dharna on the Collectorate premises before submitting a petition to the Collector. The Hindu Dalit Sena plea on student suicides thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/dalit-sena-plea-on-student-suicides/article5599899.ece The Rashtra Dalita Sena (RDS) has appealed to Vijayawada Sub-Collector D. Harichandana to take steps for conducting a comprehensive investigation of the recurring incidents of student suicides in corporate colleges. In a memorandum submitted to her on Monday, RDS State general secretary D. Prem Kumar stated that four Intermediate students of reputed corporate colleges in the city had killed themselves in the last five months apparently due to the torture meted out to them in the name of coaching but punitive action had, so far, not been taken on the managements responsible for those unfortunate incidents. One of the students held the institution responsible for the extreme step to which she resorted, saying that she had no alternative except to commit suicide for saving herself from stress and failures but the college management was not taken to task. Mr. Prem Kumar expressed regret that the Government was doing little to curb the menace and it could not even dare to take action against the powerful lobbies behind the so called corporate colleges. If the same situation continues, more number of students will end their lives. The Hindu 15 houses destroyed in fire thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/15-houses-destroyed-in-fire/article5599664.ece Fifteen houses of poor Dalit families were gutted in a fire accident at Birikote village under Bhanjanagar block of Ganjam district. The victims alleged that the fire brigade could not reach in time due to which the losses increased. This village is located in a remote area near Kandhamal district border and fire brigade had to reach there from Bhanjanagar. DNA dna edit: Discriminatory traditions dnaindia/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-discriminatory-traditions-1954468 Tuesday, Jan 21, 2014, 9:18 IST | Agency: DNA Those attempting to brush casteism under the carpet must realise that incidents of oppression and discrimination indicate the pervasiveness of caste hierarchies. The ban on a Dalit percussion artiste from performing at the famous Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur is a grim reminder that caste system continues to retain its hold even in states like Kerala. Unlike most other Indian states, Kerala has not reported an instance of upper caste groups oppressing Dalits for a long, long time now. However, instances of caste discrimination have continued to happen and remain a blot on a state making rapid and impressive advances in human development, economic and social indices. The percussion artiste’s sin was to take part in the panchavadyam, an ensemble of four percussion and one wind instrument, at the Guruvayur temple on January 5 where the percussion instruments are traditionally performed by the Marars, an upper-class Nair sect. Hearteningly, a few civil society groups, a leading musician from the Marar community, and a Hindu religious figure have supported the Dalit artiste, Kaloor Babu. But those upset with his participation in the ensemble and the temple authorities who cited anachronistic tradition while restraining Babu continue to be a dominant mindset in society. Temples continue as a site for perpetuating demeaning casteist practices in various parts of the country despite the temple entry movement throwing open the gates of temples to all people. Only this December, the Kukke Subramanya temple in Mangalore held the made snana ritual in which over 150 lower-caste devotees rolled over banana-leaves containing leftovers of food eaten by Brahmins and then washed themselves in a nearby stream. Even after strong protests by communist and socialist parties against the ritual, those defending it claim that the devotees came voluntarily. Earlier last year, Vadugapatti village near Madurai came under the scanner of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes after a Dalit boy was forced to carry his slippers on his head. Dalits were also reportedly denied entry into the temple village and various modes of untouchability were committed against them. The malleability of the caste system becomes evident in these three instances. In Guruvayur it constrained occupational mobility; in Mangalore it seamlessly merged with superstition and ignorance; and in Vadugapatti it took to outright oppression. It’s almost 25 years since the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act came into effect, with the uniform grievance that very few cases are being registered by police officials despite complaints. Amendments were introduced to the Act in the Lok Sabha, this winter session, criminalising acts like preventing temple entry and imposing or threatening a social or economic boycott. Besides laws, industrialisation, urbanisation and the free market were expected to dismantle the caste system. But caste continues to operate in subtle ways through direct and oblique questions to ascertain a person’s caste identity by colleagues, landlords and acquaintances. Excluded from skilled jobs in the private sector, reservation in higher education and government jobs benefit few Dalits. While political power has mostly benefitted a creamy layer among Dalits, the mobilisation of Dalits is a project in progress despite threats of violence, regional, religious, linguistic divides, and political affiliations. Notwithstanding the advances made by Dalit movements, organs of the modern State like the government and judiciary cannot retreat from the Dalit emancipation project yet. Deccan Herald CPM stages protest against atrocities on Dalits deccanherald/content/381804/cpm-stages-protest-against-atrocities.html Udupi:jan 21, 2014 DHNS The Udupi district unit of CPM staged a protest here before the Clock Tower against the UPA government’s policies which resulted in inflation and also against the state government’s failure in curbing the increasing incidents of atrocities against Dalits. Forwarding the memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, CPM district secretary, Shankar demanded the Union government to take immediate measures to arrest inflation, especially the increasing price of petroleum products and LPG cylinders. The inflation has totally put the lay man in distress. The state government should minimise the local tax over the petroleum products and help the people. He alleged that both the central and state governments have failed to look into the people’s burning problems and have added burden to the common man. The anti-people policies have increased, he said. Dalit Atrocity cases Shankar pointed that the increasing number of atrocity cases reported against Dalits across the state is a cause of concern. The law and order mechanism have failed to protect Dalits from attacks. Meanwhile, he blamed the police department for falsely framing Dalit youth in many cases. He demanded the government to take stringent action against the priestly and landlords in Gadya village, Jamakandi in Bagalkot district following their prohibition on Dalits recently. They should be booked under Prevention of Dalit Atrocity Act. The CPM leader urged the government to offer compensations to the Dalits who are victims of the injustice. Curb communal elements Shankar said that the fundamentalists are into creating hatred atmosphere across the state with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections.The government should initiate measures to curb communal activities. The police should arrest those who are involved in communal violence irrespective of which religion they belong to. The accused who were responsible for disturbing peace in Sindhagi during Tippu Sultan birth anniversary celebrations and those who threw pork in the premises of mosque in Chikmagalur should be punished, Shankar demanded. He also demanded the arrest of Kaladka Prabhakar Bhat who was involved in communal violence through his provocative speeches in Dakshina Kannada. The CITU will be organising Vidhana Soudha Chalo campaign against the implementation of ESMA on January 23, he added. The Hindu ‘Address problems of farmers, Dalits’ thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/address-problems-of-farmers-dalits/article5599545.ece Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene and Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, Hunsur taluk, staged a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday, urging authorities to address the problems faced by farmers and Dalits over revenue records. They demanded that the power to execute corrections in RTCs and other revenue records be given to the respective tahsildars from the Assistant Commissioners. In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, through the Deputy Commissioner, they demanded allotment of sites to 29 families who lost their lands for the construction of Mysore airport at Mandakalli near here. They demanded immediate cracking down on sand mafia and installation of closed circuit television cameras at check-posts on State borders to check illegal sand transportation to neighbouring States. They also demanded cancellation of permits of trucks that transported sand illegally. The New Indian Express Tracing Caste and Democracy newindianexpress/cities/bangalore/Tracing-Caste-and-Democracy/2014/01/21/article2010641.ece1 There seems to be no end to talk on caste and democracy in the country. At a time when identity and aam aadmi politics take the centrestage, a different perspective about caste politics may look irrelevant. However, Caste and Democracy in India— A Perspective from Below by Vivek Kumar, associate professor at the Centre for Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, throws light on the ‘journey of a hierarchical society as a democratic polity in the early years that is necessary to trace the evolving democracy’. This collection of essays deals with the relationship between caste and democracy which is seen as adversative by dominant social groups. The author claims social scientists have only partially understood the realities embedded in the institution of caste. And the partial understanding has created a distorted picture of the relationship between caste and democracy. To prove his claims, he critically examines the structure and process in the caste and democracy like political parties, civil society organisations, personality cult and corruption. Is caste dysfunctional for the ex-untouchables, but functional for democracy or caste functional for society? Has caste or Jati strengthened the phenomenon called ‘personality cult’? Is caste a colonial construct? The writer tries to find answers for these questions through systematic analysis of various data and books. The author says the construction of majority community, the Hindus, has marginalised Dalits, not only in society but in sociological curriculum. If sociology has to project the real and total picture of Indian society, it has to represent the cultural traits of the discriminated Dalit groups, he writes. Detailed studies on views of Babsaheb Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia on evolution of caste help understand the conundrum better. The writer studies the relationship between the existing terms like deprivation, discrimination and exclusion, and he tries to record the epistemology of social exclusion. Northern India is considered the epitome of caste politics. The author takes caste mobilisation in Uttar Pradesh as a case study which transformed politics in the country. He says the storm of caste mobilisation has forced many political parties to organise caste conventions across the country. The advent of globalisation and urbanisation throws up new challenges. Number of jobs in the government sector has come down and now Dalit politicians are demanding reservation in private sector. These issues are thoroughly discussed in the book. The author also highlights the construction of differential personalities among today’s Dalit youths. He claims the youth is clamouring for an independent status from the Hindu social order. Many essays point out the negative aspects of saffronisation of democracy and presidential form of election. The author is against the view that corruption is a faceless enemy. He tries to prove that corruption is a caste phenomenon. He argues that those who are at the top of the social ladder should be blamed for misusing their rituals and social positions. A Brahmin despoiled the lower classes not only in his capacity as a priest but also in the capacity of a government officer, he writes. In the last chapter, the author praises the reformist role of Buddhism for the development of Dalits. The Hindu Six-day workshop for Dalit scholars thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/sixday-workshop-for-dalit-scholars/article5599683.ece WORKSHOP FOR DALIT SCHOLARS The Department of Applied Psychology is conducting a six day workshop on Research Methodology in Social Science for SC/ST Ph.D scholars. The workshop is being organised by the Indian Council of Social Sciences, Southern Region, Hyderabad. Social Science research needs to have a focus on the present day needs and the workshop will help the doctoral scholars develop effective research strategies. The workshop will help formulate research problems, a release said. The inauguration of the workshop took place on Monday. — Staff Reporter News Monitor by Girish Pant
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:02:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015