Dalits Media Watch News Updates 28.08.14 ALERT ! With the support of some of concern friends, we are able to manage so far but challenge & threats are still a major pressure to step down. Our collective efforts may helpful to continue this very important, exclusive intervention and it needs contributions from all of you. Warm Regards!- PMARC Church turned into temple after 72 Valmikis reconvert to Hinduism - The Times Of India timesofindia.indiatimes/india/Church-turned-into-temple-after-72-Valmikis-reconvert-to-Hinduism/articleshow/41029431.cms Supreme Court says caste-free India is a mirage - India Today indiatoday.intoday.in/story/supreme-court-caste-system-india-mirchipur-riots-dalits/1/379440.html Bihar: Woman stripped in public goes missing - The Hindustan Times hindustantimes/india-news/patna/woman-stripped-assaulted-in-public-goes-missing/article1-1242830.aspx Balad Kalan land row: Dalits burn Dhindsa’s effigy - The Tribune tribuneindia/2014/20140828/punjab.htm#13 ‘Caste equality has become just a sermon’ - The Hindu thehindu/news/national/caste-equality-has-become-just-a-sermon/article6357919.ece Officials attempt to shake off age-old custom against women - The Hindu thehindu/news/national/karnataka/officials-attempt-to-shake-off-ageold-custom-against-women/article6357486.ece OHRC seeks report on stipend distribution among SC, ST students - The Hindu thehindu/news/national/other-states/ohrc-seeks-report-on-stipend-distribution-among-sc-st-students/article6359568.ece Udupi: DSS stages protest againt HC judgement in Kambalapalli massacre - Daiji World daijiworld/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=258879 Will the dalit community in Uttar Pradesh tilt in favour of BJP? - The Times Of India timesofindia.indiatimes/india/Will-the-dalit-community-in-Uttar-Pradesh-tilt-in-favour-of-BJP/articleshow/40989769.cms The Times Of India Church turned into temple after 72 Valmikis reconvert to Hinduism timesofindia.indiatimes/india/Church-turned-into-temple-after-72-Valmikis-reconvert-to-Hinduism/articleshow/41029431.cms Eram Agha,TNN | Aug 28, 2014, 12.32 AM IST ALIGARH: A church with a cross in it that belonged to the 7th Day Adventists overnight turned into a temple adorned with a portrait of Shiva after what some Hindu groups in Aligarh termed the successful ghar wapasi (reconversion) of 72 Valmikis who had become Christians in 1995. There was an elaborate shuddhi karan (purification) ceremony on Tuesday inside the church in Asroi, 30km from Aligarh. Children from the village soon took over the premises and were seen playing in it by afternoon on Wednesday. A cross was allegedly remove from the church and placed outside the gate and a portrait of Shiva installed. Khem Chandra, Sangh pracharak and pramukh of Dharam Jagran Vivad in Aligarh, said, This is called ghar wapasi, not conversion. They left by choice and today they have realized their mistake and want to come back. We welcome them. We cant let our samaj scatter, we have to hold it tight. I have told them that honour comes from within the community and not from outside. Chandra added that in the years that followed their adoption of Christianity, he met heads of the eight Valmiki families numerous times to convince them to reconsider their decision. However, as news of the reconversion spread, tension started building up, with sleuths of the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) converging on the spot. Some villagers told TOI, on condition of anonymity, that the Shiva portrait had been removed and kept inside the house of a local resident. Anil Gaur, one of those who returned to the Hindu fold, said it was because they were unhappy with the caste system that they changed their religion. But we found ourselves in no better position among Christians, he said. As Hindus we had no status and were restricted to doing menial jobs, but even after remaining a Christian for 19 years, we saw that no one came to us from their community. There was no celebration of Bada Din (Christmas). The missionaries just built a church for us in the vicinity where some of the villagers got married. That was all. Seventy-year-old Rajendra Singh said he, too, was happy to reconvert. While sleeping outside the church one day I suffered a paralytic attack. I found myself unable to move. It happened last year and since then I have been thinking that it may have been Mata Devis punishment for abandoning my faith, he claimed. Osmond Charles, a lawyer and community leader in Aligarh, isnt convinced though. Ghar wapasi sounds like a conspiracy, he said. Sometimes we hear love jihad and now we have ghar wapasi. Is this the sign of a Hindu Rashtra in the making? Father Jonanthan Lal, pastor at City Methodist Church, said, The purification pooja took place inside the church which belongs to 7th Day Adventists. Such an activity shouldnt have taken place there. Faith is a personal matter but havan inside a church is not. Meanwhile, there is a sudden, eerie quiet in Asroi. Villagers hurry inside their houses if they are asked about the reconversion and most say they know nothing about it. The presence of cops has added to their anxiety. Dont ask anything. I dont know what happened, a young man said, turning away swiftly from a TOI team. India Today Supreme Court says caste-free India is a mirage indiatoday.intoday.in/story/supreme-court-caste-system-india-mirchipur-riots-dalits/1/379440.html Mail Today Bureau | Mail Today | New Delhi, August 28, 2014 | UPDATED 09:45 IST Expressing shock at incidents such as the 2010 Mirchipur riots, the Supreme Court said that the end of caste system in India remained a mirage, while the idea of people of all castes and religion living happily together was only confined to discourses. On April 21, 2010, Dalit settlements were targeted and torched in Mirchpur village by members of the upper caste. A 70-year-old Tara Chand was killed along with his physically challenged daughter and around 100 other villagers were forced to flee their homes. We are sorry to hear about such incidents. Ideally all castes should be living together. But that is only a pravachan (discourse) now... the reality is something else, a bench headed by justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya said while hearing a petition relating to the rehabilitation of the riot victims. Caste barrages should be removed. We can rehabilitate them but what is the point of living in fear at all time with four policemen near you for protection, the bench questioned. A joint inspection ordered by the apex court found that victims were not ready to go back to their village, and should, therefore, be resettled where they dont face caste discrimination. The bench asked the victims lawyer Colin Gonsalves and the Haryana government to identify suitable land within two weeks. On September 25, 2011, three persons were sentenced to life, 10 were awarded a fiveyear jail term for participating in the 2010 riots. The Hindustan Times Bihar: Woman stripped in public goes missing hindustantimes/india-news/patna/woman-stripped-assaulted-in-public-goes-missing/article1-1242830.aspx IANS Patna, July 21, 2014 First Published: 12:58 IST(21/7/2014) | Last Updated: 13:13 IST(21/7/2014) A middle-aged woman, who was stripped and assaulted in public for allegedly kidnapping two men, went missing on Monday from a Patna hospital where she was undergoing treatment, officials said. Sangita Devi, in her 40s, was stripped and assaulted on Wednesday night for allegedly kidnapping two men who were involved in a land deal with her in Nizamuddinpur village, 50 km from Patna, in Jehanabad district. The bodies of the two men were found Thursday near Sigouri in Patna, police said. Officials said some people barged into the womans house and forced her out. They vandalised her house and then stripped and beat her up in the presence of other villagers. She sustained severe injuries and was hospitalised. The woman who is also accused of murder of two men disappeared from the hospital early Monday, a police official said. A first infomation report (FIR) was lodged against her by the father of one of the two men killed. In fact, three FIRs have been lodged in the case. An FIR was lodged Friday against 600 unidentified people for stripping and assaulting her in public. Another FIR was lodged on the basis of her statement against some four-five people. Deputy inspector general Pradip Kumar Srivastav visited Jehanabad to inquire into the case. The Tribune Balad Kalan land row: Dalits burn Dhindsa’s effigy tribuneindia/2014/20140828/punjab.htm#13 Tribune News Service , Sangrur, August 27 Members of the Dalit community who have been on a protest outside the DC’s office here since August 25 today burnt an effigy of Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Parkash Chand Garg. The protesters took out a protest march from the dharna site to the traffic light chowk via main bus stand and raised slogans against the administration. Under the banner of the Zamin Prapati Sanghrash Committee, the Dalits are demanding implementation of administration’s proposal relating to cultivation rights of Balad Kalan panchayat land (reserved for SCs), and cancellation of cases against 41 Dalits. Gurmukh Singh, their representative, said they would intensify their agitation soon as they could not wait for long to get their demands accepted. Terming the district administration and the government “anti-Dalit”, Bhupinder Longowal, a Dalit leader, said the administration had not been initiating steps to resolve the issue. The leaders warned the government if the matter was not resolved, the Dalits would initiate steps to take the possession of the land reserved for the SCs in Namol, Matoi and Balad Kalan villages. The controversy • At least 41 Dalits were arrested following a clash with the police at Bhawanigarh on June 27 • The clash took place while the auction of 478 bighas of panchayat land of Balad Kalan village (reserved for SCs) was in progress • The protesters were seeking their participation in the auction • They had demanded that the auction price should be kept low since the land was reserved for SCs and they (Dalits) could not pay high rates • The Dalits now demand release of all those held after Bhawanigarh clash The Hindu ‘Caste equality has become just a sermon’ thehindu/news/national/caste-equality-has-become-just-a-sermon/article6357919.ece Legal Correspondent Caste violence, riots and their aftermath on human lives have reduced the idea of people living together without caste barriers to just a pravachan (sermon), the Supreme Court has said. A Bench led by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya was hearing a public interest litigation petition seeking the rehabilitation of Dalit families displaced in the 2010 Mirchpur (Haryana) riots. Dalit settlements were targeted and torched in Mirchpur village in Hisar by upper caste men on April 21, 2010. A 70-year-old man, Tara Chand, and his physically challenged daughter were killed in the violence even as about 100 Dalit families fled their homes. The Bench rued how caste considerations have become a reality even while rehabilitating victims of riots. “Ideally all castes should be living together. Now that has become a pravachan. All people should be living without fear. Now, there should be at least four policemen with them at all times to protect them,” Justice Mukhopadhaya said on Tuesday. Earlier, an inspection team commissioned by the court revealed the miserable living conditions of the riot victims. The court said it was the responsibility of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government to rehabilitate the victims, who would not go back to their villages, and give them proper land. “Your government is a political government. You know the ground realities. It is for the government to identify the land keeping in mind all the aspects,” the judge said. The Hindu Officials attempt to shake off age-old custom against women thehindu/news/national/karnataka/officials-attempt-to-shake-off-ageold-custom-against-women/article6357486.ece Sathish G. T. The district administration, after several attempts, is finally hopeful of ending an age-old custom at Gollarahattis (settlements of the Golla community) in Arsikere taluk. The community has, for years, been keeping women out of the village limits during menstruation and outside their homes after the birth of a child. The younger generation is by and large willing to do away with the custom, but elders want to retain it, said officials who held meetings with the people to end the practice. After the birth of the child, the baby and mother stay in thatched huts outside their homes for months, regardless of the weather. In recent years, many women have even undergone hysterectomy to avoid this trauma. H.C. Chidananda, Deputy Director of Women and Child Development, on Saturday told The Hindu that he had held three meetings with people of 20 Gollarahattis, where the custom is being followed. “We have discussed all issues, including this particular custom, with the people. The youth are against it. But a couple of elders have been saying that if they do away with the custom, the deity, Junjappa, will get angry,” the officer said. Zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer U.P. Singh, District Health Officer Shymala Devi and other senior officials of the district administration conducted a meeting with village residents on August 4. “We have warned them that cases will be booked against them if they did not put an end to the custom soon. They told us that they would hold a discussion in the village and take a decision soon,” said Mr. Chidananda. Mahalingappa, former taluk panchayat member, who has been motivating people to end the custom, said: “I am hopeful of people taking a positive step.” The Hindu OHRC seeks report on stipend distribution among SC, ST students thehindu/news/national/other-states/ohrc-seeks-report-on-stipend-distribution-among-sc-st-students/article6359568.ece Staff Reporter The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) asked the State government to intimate the Commission about steps taken for speedy disbursement of stipend to all students belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. The commission’s directive came in wake of a tribal girl committing suicide due to delay in issue of government stipend in time in Gajapati district recently. The OHRC was hearing the case pertaining to Sunita Raita’s suicide, who was pursing a career in nursing in a Bhubaneswar-based college. “She was entitled to a stipend of Rs. 54,000 a year to meet her educational expenses. Due to non-release of the stipend, the college authorities had reportedly expelled Sunita. It was alleged that no relief was provided to her even after she requested collector Gajapati at R. Udaygiri,” submitted Prabir Kumar Das, a human rights activist and lawyer. Mr. Das had moved the OHRC seeking a high level enquiry into the case of suicide in context of negligence in giving the stipend and compensation to the tune of Rs. 10 lakh to next of kin of the victim. He had also urged OHRC to intervene so that proper steps could be taken for monitoring of the release of stipend to needy SC and ST students to meet their educational needs. Hearing the case, the Commission asked Revenue Divisional Commissioner (southern division), Berhampur to conduct an enquiry into the chain of events leading to the death of tribal girl and fix responsibility on persons responsible for such delay in sanction of stipend. The RDC was asked to submit the report within four weeks. It needs to be mentioned that suicide by the tribal girl had evoked sharp reactions in the State. The government was forced to transfer Gajapati district collector. The RDC (southern division) is already enquiring to the incident. Daiji World Udupi: DSS stages protest againt HC judgement in Kambalapalli massacre daijiworld/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=258879 Daijiworld Media Network — Udupi Udupi, Aug 27: DSS staged a massive protest on Tuesday August 26 at Clock Tower, Udupi, against the High Court judgment in the Kambalapalli massacre in which seven dalits were burnt alive in their house. Seven dalits were burnt alive near Chintamani in Kolar district by an ‘upper caste’ mob on the evening of March 11, 2000. Prof B S Shridhar said in his address, “Casteism and communalism is still alive. This is a kind of harassment in the name of the caste system.” He opined that the government should awaken and the case must go to the Supreme Court for further investigation. He recalled a series of incidents in Karnataka and other states including Haryana, Kadakol incident in Bijapur district where Dalits faced social boycott and the Kherlanji incident in Maharashtra which involved rape and murder of Dalits. Prof Shridhar strongly condemned the High Court judgment and its negligence. “Justice is not to be expected in any court, because of inequality. Give up the illusion regarding justice and we will strive collectively to gain success,” he urged. He pointed fingers at the social system and caste system and stressed that the 32 culprits should be punished to bring about equality in society. Jayanth Malpe Paniraj, G Rajshekar, president of Communal Harmony Forum, and William Martis were present. The Times Of India Will the dalit community in Uttar Pradesh tilt in favour of BJP? timesofindia.indiatimes/india/Will-the-dalit-community-in-Uttar-Pradesh-tilt-in-favour-of-BJP/articleshow/40989769.cms Pankaj Shah,TNN | Aug 27, 2014, 12.48 PM IST LUCKNOW: Seventy years old Raja Ram Gautam, a dalit farmer, stares at the ground blankly. Someone has just told him that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) headed by Mayawati will not contest the byelections scheduled next month. An ardent follower of Mayawati, Gautam, has been voting for the BSP throughout. The absence of BSP, therefore, has made him a little confused. So, which way will he vote? I may go by the candidate. The candidate may be from any party, declares Gautam, a resident of Shivajipuram in Lucknow. Scores of BSP followers like Gautam and Rawat have been left wondering as to where their vote go when 12 assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh go to polls on September 13. Even as political parties gear up for the bypolls there are two theories doing the rounds in UP as to which way the dalit vote would go. First, in a direct contest between the BJP and the SP, dalits may opt for the BJP. There are a number of reasons behind this. Political pundits maintain that the BJP has been making inroads into dalit vote bank of the BSP by polarizing them on communal lines. Be it the communal conflagration in Muzaffarnagar or in Moradabad, it was the dalits who were at the receiving end. Every time, it was the dalits which were being targeted, said a senior BSP functionary. And the administration of Samajwadi Pary did not do anything, he said. National Crime Record Bureau records too show that the atrocities against SC/ST increased by 7.9 per cent in 2012, when Samajwadi Party stormed to power. In 2013, UP topped the All India list accounting for 17.97% of crime against SC/STs. In fact, Mayawati had been consistently alleging that the dalits were being victimized in Uttar Pradesh and that she would break the back of those victimizing the dalits when she returns to power. Therefore, no BSP supporter would like to see a SP candidate winning, says RK Gautam, a dalit. The second theory suggests that the dalits may lie passive. BSP national general secretary and Mayawati close aide Satish Chandra Mishra says that the dalits would not vote for any party. The poll percentage may decline therefore, said, while speaking to TOI. There are though murmurs doing the rounds that BSP leadership would issue instructions to its voters as to what they would do. BSP got a significant vote share in the 12 assembly seats which were won by the BJP. The BSP, on its part, did fought a pitch electoral battle with the BJP coming second on as many as seven seats — Kairana, Bijnore, Sirathu, Hamirpur, Balha, Noida and Rohaniya. In fact, in assembly seats like Sirathu and Hamirpur, the BSP candidates fell second by a margin of barely 9863 and 7824 votes. On five seats the winning margin of BJP candidates was around 17,000 to 27,000 votes. BSP was though third on three seats and fourth on two seats including the one of Lucknow (east). As a matter of fact, in 2012 assembly elections, BSPs vote share was more than 10 percent point higher than BJP. It got 25.91% votes as against 15% of BJP which managed to win only 47 seats. Congress was at a distant 11.65%, while SP rode to power winning 29.13% votes. In the 2007 assembly elections, BSP fought 403 seats, won 206 with vote share 30.43%. SP (in alliance with RLD) contested 393 seats, won 97 with 25.43% vote share and BJP fought 350 seats, won 51 with a 16.97% vote share. Political pundits point out that the seats otherwise happen to be those of BJP. Hence the BJP has an upper hand. More so, with the Modi factor — which catapulted the saffron brigade to an astonishing win in Lok Sabha elections — at play. Political analyst, JP Shukla points out that the communal riots might play a major role in favour of the BJP. There would be polarization just like in case of Lok sabha elections. What goes against the SP is the fact that it could not control the riots in which dalits were largely at the receiving end, he said. Shukla maintained that because SPs close affiliation with the minority vote bank the `Hinduisation would be at play for the dalits. Secondly, in rural areas the conflicts are more between the OBCs and the dalits. Since OBCs, mainly the Yadavs, are identified with SP, the dalits would go for an opposition party. It could be BJP as well as the Congress, Shukla said. Dalit analyst Badri Narain, however, contests. There are MBCs also. They may side with the SP instead of the BJP. Therefore it could be a closely watched contest, he concludes. News Monitored By Girish Pant
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 09:54:08 +0000
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