5 Attack Dalit Siblings After Talk on Local Meet - The Indian Express newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/5-Attack-Dalit-Siblings-After-Talk-on-Local-Meet/2015/01/22/article2630944.ece Dalit youths tonsure case: A.P. govt. asked to explain - The Hindu thehindu/news/national/andhra-pradesh/dalit-youths-tonsure-case-ap-govt-asked-to-explain/article6810975.ece Police assault minor boy, father alleges caste bias - Deccan Chronicle deccanchronicle/150122/nation-crime/article/police-assault-minor-boy-father-alleges-caste-bias NSCS team holds inquiry into attack on Dalits - Zee News zeenews.india/news/tamil-nadu/nscs-team-holds-inquiry-into-attack-on-dalits_1534143.html BJP gets credible dalit face in UP - Asian Age asianage/india/bjp-gets-credible-dalit-face-365 VHP offers panacea to all Dalit, OBC, MBC ills: ‘Hindu Umbrella’ - The New Indian Express indianexpress/article/india/india-others/vhp-offers-panacea-to-all-dalit-obc-mbc-ills-hindu-umbrella/ The Indian Express 5 Attack Dalit Siblings After Talk on Local Meet newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/5-Attack-Dalit-Siblings-After-Talk-on-Local-Meet/2015/01/22/article2630944.ece By Express News Service Published: 22nd January 2015 06:00 AM THANJAVUR: Five caste-Hindus were arrested for abusing and attacking dalit brothers who were engaged in an animated conversation among themselves, near here on Wednesday. According to police, on Tuesday night, D Baskar (36) of Mela Adidravidar Street in Kovathakudi village near Melattur along with his brothers, Paunraj and Dharmaraj, were arguing among themselves about a village meeting which was recently held. They were arguing heatedly in front of a grocery shop located near their houses, it is said. At the time, a five-member gang of caste Hindus who were passing the spot, abused the dalit brothers taking their caste names, apparently vexed in the way they were shouting at the top of their voices, The gang members also attacked Baskar and Dharmaraj with bare hands. Later, when the brothers dispersed and Baskar went into his house, the same gang followed him and set fire to the front portion of his thatched house. Baskar, with the help of others from the locality, managed to put out the fire. Meanwhile, based on a complaint by Baskar, Melattur Police registered a case in the early hours of Wednesday under various sections of Indian Penal Code including 307 (attempt to murder) and under section 3(2) (5) of SC, ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act and arrested the five -- P Sivakumar (23), Rajkumar (27), P Rajkannu (27), P Muthu (34) and V Ilayaraja (32) -- all from Vadakku theru of Kovathakudi village. Selvaraj, DSP of Papanasam, is conducting an enquiry. It may be recalled that this is the second incident of attack on dalit youth in the district during the past one week. On January 16, three dalit youth on a motorcycle in Veersingampettai village near Thanjavur were attacked by a gang of caste Hindus when they questioned why the road was blocked. The caste Hindus were reportedly walking their cows at the time. The Hindu Dalit youths tonsure case: A.P. govt. asked to explain thehindu/news/national/andhra-pradesh/dalit-youths-tonsure-case-ap-govt-asked-to-explain/article6810975.ece Legal Correspondent A nearly two decades-old case wherein three dalit youth were tonsured by non-dalits in East Godavari district in which the trial had not yet begun drew the attention of the High Court on Wednesday and the State government was asked to explain the present status. Justice Vilas Afzulpurkar of Hyderabad High Court directed authorities to respond to the allegation that trial has not started in the case that was registered in 1997. Thota Trimurthulu, MLA from Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari district is the main accused in this case. Koti China Raju and three others filed a writ petition bringing to the notice of the Court that a criminal case was registered in January 1997 on an allegation that three dalit youth were tonsured to humiliate them. Though this is a case under SC ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 the trial has not commenced. Deccan Chronicle Police assault minor boy, father alleges caste bias deccanchronicle/150122/nation-crime/article/police-assault-minor-boy-father-alleges-caste-bias DC CORRESPONDENT | January 22, 2015, 07.01 am IST Hyderabad: Two cops allegedly beat up a 15-year-old boy in front of his school at Hayathnagar and then detained him at the police station. The cops came to the school following a complaint from another students parents who had alleged that their son was being harassed by the boy and his friends. Hayathnagar police claimed they had booked a case against the boy and his friends for assaulting a 15-year-old student and had brought him to the station to inquire about the case. They denied that they had beaten the boy. Meanwhile, the boy’s father alleged that cops beat him up since he belonged to a lower caste. “Two constables went to my son’s class in Vidya Dharani School and beat him up with canes. They also took him to the police station and detained him for an hour and half,” said the victim’s father, who is a resident of JNRM colony near Abdullapur. Police said the boy and his friends attacked another boy and his parents had lodged a complaint. “We had booked a case against this boy for assault and criminal intimidation. So, we just brought him to the police station for inquiry. He was not beaten by the police,” said inspector P. Venkateswarlu. Vanasthalipuram ACP B. Bhaskar said that they will inquire into the allegation. “We will look into the issue and conduct an internal inquiry. If any cop is responsible action will be initiated,” he said. Zee News NSCS team holds inquiry into attack on Dalits zeenews.india/news/tamil-nadu/nscs-team-holds-inquiry-into-attack-on-dalits_1534143.html Last Updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - 18:17 Madurai: A two-member team of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) on Wednesday conducted an inquiry into the alleged attack on Dalits last week at Kuraiyur in the district that left one person dead and two others injured. According to official sources, the team was led by NCSC Assistant Director (Chennai) P Ramasamy. The issue took a serious turn after one of the three injured in the incident on January 16 died two days later. Police registered a case under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act against 20 persons from Arasapatti village and DSP of Tirumangalam D Arasu investigated the matter and arrested four persons. Ramasamy and NCSC Investigator A Iniyan conducted the investigation. Later they had a brief discussion with the DSP, the sources said. The team met the injured at the Government Rajaji Hospital here and handed over Rs 75,000 relief to them. Armed police have been posted in the village to monitor the situation. The attack was the sequel to a dispute between two groups over a temple festival a couple of months ago, police said. Asian Age BJP gets credible dalit face in UP asianage/india/bjp-gets-credible-dalit-face-365 Jan 22, 2015 - Amita Verma | The BJP has finally found a credible and popular Dalit face in former DGP Brij Lal in Uttar Pradesh to counter the Bahujan Samaj Party. After Ms Kiran Bedi in Delhi, UP’s super cop, Brij Lal, joined the BJP in Lucknow on Wednesday. A 1977 batch IPS officer, Mr Brij Lal is a former DGP of the state and he retired in November last year. Mr Brij Lal, one of the most popular dalit officers in the state, is likely to attract more former bureaucrats into the BJP. Known as a no-nonsense and diligent officer, Mr Brij Lal served in the UP police without any “taint” even though he was known to be among Ms Mayawati’s favourite officers. His role in the anti-mafia, anti- dacoity and anti-terrorism operations in the state will long be remembered. He often led police operations from the front and it was a rare sight to see a DG rank officer actively participating in an encounter with notorious dacoit Ghanshyam Kevat in Chitrakoot in 2010. The BJP hopes to attract “educated and literate dalits” into the party fold with the help of Mr Brij Lal. “Till now, we did not have a credible dalit face in Uttar Pradesh and most of our dalit leaders have either outlived their utility or have fallen into a state of disuse. With Brij Lal, we hope to give a new thrust to our campaign to woo dalits in Uttar Pradesh,” said a senior party leader. Mr Brij Lal, during his tenure in the police service, was known to reach out to the weaker and downtrodden sections of society and was known for his humane approach. He commands considerable respect among dalits and dalit officers in the state. The BJP in UP is desperate to consolidate its based among dalits and prevent Ms Mayawati from reviving the BSP. In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had managed to make dalits turn into Hindus and the party wants to sustain the effort. “The process of change has begun,” said senior party leader Om Mathur. Incidentally, Mr Brij Lal joining the BJP is the second bad news for the BSP in the past one month. Last month, BSP MP Jugal Kishore had unfurled the banner of revolt against the BSP leadership and is said to be inching closer to the BJP. The New Indian Express VHP offers panacea to all Dalit, OBC, MBC ills: ‘Hindu Umbrella’ indianexpress/article/india/india-others/vhp-offers-panacea-to-all-dalit-obc-mbc-ills-hindu-umbrella/ Written by Lalmani Verma | Lucknow | Posted: January 22, 2015 3:40 am To “further enrich” the support base of BJP, its political outfit, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has put on job another of its offshoots —- the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) —- to bring all the Hindus, especially the Dalits and those from Other Backward Caste (OBC) sand Most Backward Castes (MBC), under one umbrella ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The VHP has now decided to hold programmes for these castes under a common banner called “VHP Hindu Umbrella”. It has also coined a new slogan for the cause: “Hindu hum sab ek hain, koi nai hai dalit achhoot, sab hain bharat mata ke sapoot (All Hindus are united. There’s no Dalit or untouchable. They are all Indians)”. The VHP leaders say that the idea of “Hindu Umbrella” was conceptualised at the time of the outfit’s formation in 1964. Different wings of RSS, such as ABVP and Dharm Jagran Manch, are already working in Uttar Pradesh to create an atmosphere in favour of BJP ahead of the Assembly polls. VHP sources said the “Hindu Umbrella” will attract voters of different castes. To popularise the “Hindu Umbrella”, the VHP workers in their events in UP have started raising the slogan —“Samasya anek-samadhan ek, kasht anek-nidaan ek, prashn anek-uttar ek— VHP Hindu Umbrella (Answer to all your questions, pain and problem is VHP Hindu Umbrella) “. VHP’s Kashi region organisation secretary Manoj Srivastava said “Hindu umbrella” was aimed at bringing different castes of Hindu religion under one banner where all their problems could be redressed at one forum. His unit has already started holding events under the banner. Another senior leader said that VHP was founded in 1964 to make different Hindu outfits to work on their own agendas but in coordination with each other. “That concept is being revived now once again to connect and unite different castes and communities as Hindus,” he said. Srivastava said that VHP was running different programmes for welfare of Hindus and protection of their rights. “But, different people recognise VHP with its different programmes like Ghar Wapsi (re-conversion), Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Hindu Helpline and India Health Line. The Hindu Umbrella will popularise all these programmes and create awareness among masses about the works that VHP is doing for helping Hindus,” Srivastava added. Counter Current Development and Dalits: Political Scenario In New Delhi countercurrents.org/sonpimple210115.htm By Rahul Sonpimple 21 January, 2015 Once again Delhi is getting ready for political battle of the throne. This time all parties seem well informed about the present political scenario in the city and are taking calculated steps to influence all sections of voters, as the last assembly elections have been an eye opening episode. Dalit votes in the city are estimated to be around 25 lakhs, a significant fraction to change the game and ensure a soothing end for any political contender. Interestingly, all major political parties after the last assembly election in the city seem to be widening their pool of political considerations for Dalits, since majority of the population lives in severe vulnerability and are placed at the receiving end. This election will also be marked by the absence of any strong non-Congress and non- BJP Dalit –Bahujan political party and leadership since many of them have either assimilated in the ruling party (BJP) or fail to influence the community’s views anymore. For instance the assimilation of Dalit leaders like Udit Raj in BJP and the weakening hold of BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) in city politics . With such an absence of leadership from within the community, parties like BJP and AAP effectively cash in on the opportunity to attract the community’s votes with their developmental agendas. While AAP is promising to modernize the cleaning equipments, BJP is venturing to disclaim its image of being a party of upper caste Hindus. With the old rhetoric on inclusive development as Congress has done in the past, both BJP and AAP are claiming to offer a development for Dalits within the larger developmental agenda of the city. However, none of them has outlined how they will execute these promises. Although AAP and BJP both claim to be different from Congress, their strategies to influence Dalit votes by using a Dalit face are similar to the success mantra of Congress. Kanshi Ram, the founder of BSP, would refer to such Dalit leaders as ‘Chamchas’. At the first glance politics around Dalit voters in the city may seem similar to other parts of the country. However, the complete control of demands by political parties and no negotiation from the community, signals to the powerlessness of Dalits in Delhi, which may not be the case in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. In the case of Dalits in Maharashtra, the creation of demands and political negotiations are not necessarily representative of political aspirations of leaders, rather very often they are a result of struggles led by the community and responses to the daily challenges. In the absence of any struggle or movement from the community, Dalit politics in Delhi completely rests in the clutches of a handful of political agents among Dalits and on mercy of NGOs . The history of Dalit struggle has always been a struggle for self respect. Despite many re-formative attempts by caste Hindus to neutralize the struggle and retain Dalits in the Hindu fold, Dalits have always challenged such dubious intentions. For instance, in Punjab, young educated Dalits from the Chamar community had first been in the Arya Samaj, attracted by some of its ideals which held open the promise of purification (shuddhi) to the lower castes, they soon became disillusioned by the control of upper castes in the movement and rejected the paternalistic implication of shuddhi that untouchables needed to be purified. Later they started the Ad-Dharm movement. Moreover, such action, either by challenging caste hegemony or by religious conversion, against the attempts of liberal upper caste Hindus, has always been a part of Dalit history. As a result, acknowledging their struggle for separate socio-religious identity, distinct from Hinduism, has become a political compulsion for political parties. This struggle has also been integrated in the larger political discourse. However, due to the lack of social movement from the community, recent development of discourse on Dalits in the Capital is colored by conservative notions of both the leading parties i.e. AAP and BJP. Whether it is Modi’s Swachch Bharat Mission launched from Valmiki Basti in New Delhi or Kejriwal’s ideas to give respect to the Dalits, both bear a resemblance to the conservative reformation which their ideologues had initiated in the past. For long, Dalit struggle has critiqued and countered such dubious efforts, however this is apparently not true in the case of recent political scenario in Delhi. In order to create a power of negotiation and a space for self realized demands, Dalits in the city should strive for a strong ideological mobilization and should limit the influence of political agents from community. News monitored by Girish Pant & AJEET
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:02:51 +0000
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