Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 01.10.15
UP boy, 9, booked for raping 6-year-old - The Times Of India
Mulayam sheds his ideals, fields son of Ranvir Sena founder - Catch News
HC dismisses petition challenging barber shops for non-dalit people - The Times Of India
More Muslims, Dalits in Prison, Says NCRB Data - The New Indian Express
Narrating the discrimination against Dalits - The Hindu
Durga puja by Kolkata's transgender women - Zee News
http://zeenews.india.com/news/west-bengal/durga-puja-by-kolkatas-transgender-women_1805092.html
Odisha to provide subsidised rice to SC/ST schools - The Statesman
SC/BC employees protest outside DC office - The Tribune
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/sc-bc-employees-protest-outside-dc-office/140912.html
SC body condemns RSS chief's remarks - The Tribune
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/sc-body-condemns-rss-chief-s-remarks/140913.html
Creaming the people: Caste-based reservations need to be recast for the sake of a fairer society - The Times Of India
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The Times Of India
Dalit man, 90, hacked, burnt to death in UP
Arindam Ghosh,TNN | Oct 3, 2015, 06.17 AM IST
JHANSI: A drunk allegedly killed a 90-year-old dalit in a village in UP's Hamirpur district on Wednesday after the latter refused to part with his money. Accused Sanjay Tiwari later set the body on fire.
On Friday, Hamirpur police said the killing took place in Bilgaon village when Khimma Ahirwar was going to a temple. He was accompanied by his wife, Basanti, and a relative.
On the way, they encountered a drunken Tiwari, who demanded money from Ahirwar. When Ahirwar refused, the accused attacked him with an axe.
Basanti and the relative fled from the spot. After Ahirwar died, Tiwari burned the body. Alerted by Basanti, villagers went to the crime scene, overpowered Tiwari and handed him over to the police.
The police denied an earlier report that Ahirwar was killed because he was entering a temple. They lodged an FIR against Tiwari and three of his associates under the IPC and SC/ST Act. "The accused was under the influence of alcohol at the time he committed the crime," Hamirpur SP Muniraj G told TOI. "We've arrested him and are further investigating the matter."
According to villagers, Tiwari is a drug addict and a troublemaker. He was reported to the police several times, but no action was taken against him.
The Times Of India
UP boy, 9, booked for raping 6-year-old
Kanwardeep Singh,TNN | Oct 3, 2015, 05.46 AM IST
PILIBHIT: Cops in UP are calling him the youngest ever person booked for rape. In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old boy has been charged with the rape of a six-years-old girl in Maithi, Pilibhit. Medical examination of the girl on Friday confirmed the sexual assault, following which an FIR was registered and the boy sent to a juvenile home in Bareilly.
A case has also been registered against the boy under the SC/ST Act as the girl belongs to the Jatav community.
Nirmal Bisht, the circle officer who is investigating the case, told TOI, "We have presented the boy in front of the magistrate. He has been sent to the juvenile home in Bareilly. The boy has accepted the charges and medical examination of the girl has confirmed rape. The age of the boy is yet to be confirmed but can't be more than 10 years."
The incident took place on Thursday, when the two children were playing in a field. The brother of the girl told TOI, "My sister, who is around six years old, went out to buy chocolate when the boy asked her to play with him. He took her to a nearby field, where he raped her. When my sister returned after some time, she was crying in pain and bleeding. She narrated her entire ordeal to us."
According to the police, the boy, who along with his family, had been on the run since the incident came to light on Thursday, was caught on Friday. "The boy looked quite scared. His first reaction to police questioning was, 'khel khel mai ho gaya' (we were just playing)," said Dalbeer Verma, station officer, Neuria police station. "It is really unbelievable as I wasn't convinced with the allegations of rape by a nine-year-old kid, but he admitted to the charges."
Parents of the girl alleged that cops were reluctant to file the FIR and acted only after a group of people from the Jatav community protested outside the police station. Verma, however, explained that cops were initially reluctant to lodge an FIR as the allegations sound unbelievable. "But since the matter comes under the SC/ST Act, we filed the complaint."
According to activists, there has been a drastic increase in the number of juvenile crimes in the country. A Bareilly-based woman activist, Praveen Bhandari, said, "Children are over-exposed to pornography on internet, TV and movies."
State president of All India Democratic Women's Association Madhu Garg said, "There is a need to provide counselling to children and give them proper sex education. In most of the instances of juvenile crimes related to rape, it has been observed that children, who reside in one-room houses, are exposed to sex from an early age. In the absence of proper guidance, it creates a desire for sex among minors, which may instigate child rape."
Catch News
Mulayam sheds his ideals, fields son of Ranvir Sena founder
|3 OCTOBER 2015
The deviation
· SP has given a ticket to the son of Ranvir Sena founder Brahmeshwar Mukhia
· Ranvir Sena is involved in several massacres of Dalits
· Clearly, SP has forgotten its ideal of social justice
The candidate
· Mukhia's son Indu Bhushan Singh is openly pro-BJP
· By fielding him, SP seems to be invoking Mukhia's legacy
More in the story
· What does Mulayam Singh Yadav really want?
· Who is Indu Bhushan Singh
Taking political about-turns appears to have become a habit with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Yadav, who claims to be a follower of Ram Manohar Lohia's principles of social justice and equality, appears to have forgotten all that he learnt from him.
Mulayam's party has given a ticket to the son of Ranvir Sena founder Brahmeshwar Mukhia for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Mukhia's son, Indu Bhushan Singh, will be contesting from the Tarari Assembly constituency. Tarari is in Arrah district, where Mukhia hailed from. It was in Arrah that Mukhia was gunned down in 2012. It is evident the the SP is trying to cash in on Mukhia's popularity in the area.
Singh is considered the de-facto heir of his father's controversial legacy.
Mulayam's gameplan
Critics say that the SP has deviated from its core principles by invoking the Bhumihar warlord's legacy.
JD(U) General Secretary KC Tyagi said that the SP will gain nothing by fielding Mukhia's son. "SP and their allies are non-entities in the Bihar elections. It makes no difference whom they give tickets to," Tyagi said.
Mukhia's son Indu Bhushan Singh is openly pro-BJP. Yet the SP has given him a ticket
It is believed that the SP's sole aim in the elections is to defeat the Grand Alliance of the RJD, JD(U) and the Congress. He has joined hands with Lalu Prasad's bete noire Pappu Yadav and has even deputed his son, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, to campaign against the Grand Alliance.
His nephew, Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Yadav, will also be campaigning in the state, even though he is married to Lalu's youngest daughter.
Who is Indu Bhushan Singh?
Singh had contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Patliputra constituency. There was speculation that this was Lalu's way of splitting Bhumihar votes to ensure the victory of his daughter Misa Bharti. But this didn't work out and his friend-turned-foe Ram Kripal Yadav rode to victory on a BJP ticket.
During his Lok Sabha campaign, Singh was quite open about being "a BJP supporter at heart, irrespective of which party fields him". Yet the SP, which claims to be anti-BJP, had no qualms in adopting him.
Tarari is one of the high-profile seats in the Bhojpur region. It was represented by JD(U) strongman Sunil Pandey, who was arrested a few months ago.
The BJP shied away from fielding Singh, despite his professed loyalty to the party. This could be due to the fear of a backlash from Dalit voters.
Ranvir Sena's bloody past
The Ranvir Sena's bloody history is well known. It conducted several massacres of Dalits through the late 1990s. The most gruesome massacre was in in 1997 when 61 Dalits were butchered in Lakshmanpur Bathe in Jahanabad.
It hit the headlines recently after a Cobrapost expose alleged that BJP leaders like Sushil Modi tried to scuttle the probe into the massacres.
There are allegations that the Ranvir Sena was behind the gangrape of six Mahadalit women in Bhojpur's Kurmuri Bazar, some months ago.
The Times Of India
HC dismisses petition challenging barber shops for non-dalit people
Manish Raj,TNN | Oct 1, 2015, 10.59 PM IST
CHENNAI: Madras High Court has dismissed a petition challenging construction of barber shops exclusively for non-dalit people in Cuddalore district. The petitioner's argument that such shop would foster the practice of untouchability also failed to cut ice with the court.
B Ragothanan said three people were collecting funds to construct barber shop exclusively for the non-dalits in government land in Adhiyur village, near Veppur in Cuddalore. After he sent a representation to the tahsildar, a peace committee meeting was held between dalit and non-dalit communities in the village. Despite this, there was no decision to allow dalits in the barber shop. As he failed to get a response from the RDO, he moved the Madras high court.
On Thursday, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam said if the construction was to begin on government land, the complaint had to be made in accordance with revenue department Government Order dated April 12, 2014. Ragothanan had also said there was a possibility of discriminating against a community. "If such a situation arises, naturally the cause would arise to any person against whom discrimination is practiced and necessary proceedings can be taken," said the bench dismissing the petition.
The New Indian Express
More Muslims, Dalits in Prison, Says NCRB Data
By Rohan Premkumar Published: 03rd October 2015 06:03 AM Last Updated: 03rd October 2015 06:03 AM
COIMBATORE:The percentage of Muslims, Dalits and OBCs lodged in prisons in India is disproportionate to their population, if one were to go by the data of prisoners compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau and the latest Census figures.
While the NCRB report reveals that 26.4% of the prisoners in the country were Muslims, the total population of Muslims in the country is lesser at 14.2% as per the Census data. Likewise, 60.3% of the jail inmates belonged to Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes/Tribes. Also, 38.1% of the detenues in prisons were OBCs and STs. 'Detenues' are persons detained in prison on the orders of a competent authority under relevant preventative detention laws. "While Muslims constitute around 30% of all prisoners, in the 'pre-trial phase', the proportion of convicted Muslim prisoners stands at only 16.4%," said an activist. National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations chairperson A Marx alleged that these figures reflected that the criminal justice system was inherently prejudiced against members of the backward classes and Muslims. "Since 1980, Muslim men are being detained unjustly by the police. There have been demands to establish fast track courts to deal with Muslim under-trial prisoners and award compensation to the wronged and punish police officers who wrongfully detained them," he added.
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader and legislator M H Jawahirullah alleged that every time there is a terror attack invariably Muslim youth get picked up the police. To substantiate this, he cited the Malegaon blast in 2008 where action based on suspicions of involvement of Muslims backfired. "Just because the statistics show that more Muslims are in prison it does not necessarily mean that members of the community are prone to be criminals. Muslims are also the targets of biased police officers," he charged.
The Hindu
Narrating the discrimination against Dalits
Incidents of humiliation and atrocity witnessed since childhood days prompted Vijaykumar Sigaranahalli to write a book, "Boodiyagada Kenda", which means fuel that has not become ash. Native of Sigaranahalli in Holenarsipur taluk, the writer has seen poverty, bonded labour system, atrocities on Scheduled Castes in the name of religion and blind beliefs throughout the 30 years of his life.
Interestingly, his book is ready for release, even as his native village, Sigaranahalli, is in the news for upper caste people allegedly imposing penalty on four Dalit women for entering a temple in the village.
"Many people around me often spoke as if atrocities on Dalits have ended. Their views actually prompted me to record the day-to-day experiences of my family members and neighbours in the Dalit colony in my village, besides what I witnessed since my childhood days, in the form of a book," said Mr. Kumar, who is also a journalist.
Farm labourers
Born in a family of Scheduled Caste agricultural labourers, he grew up with elder brothers, who worked as bonded labourers.
In a family of eight children, he was the youngest and he could only complete graduation with the support of his elders. "Even today, people living in my colony are restricted from entering temple and a community hall in the village. I and my family members have faced difficulty in getting houses for rent in places like Hassan. A few years ago, my sister's family was forced to vacate the house within minutes, after the house-owner learnt about her caste. I too faced such ordeal, when I moved to Hassan after getting a job," he said. He has narrated these incidents in his book.
As a journalist, he has travelled across the district and witnessed how Dalits are being treated. Dalits were never given entry into Chowdeshwari temple at Kaginahare in Sakleshpur taluk. Members of the temple management committee have maintained that even Sakleshpur MLA, a Dalit, had not entered the temple.
"These are not old stories, but happening every day. In my village, upper caste people do not have meals with Dalits. The upper caste people have to be served food in hotels, when they attend Dalit marriages," he said.
The book will be released at a function organised by Bayalu Sahitya Vedike, in association with Hampi University, at Hampi in Ballari district on Saturday. Aharnishi has published the book.
Zee News
Durga puja by Kolkata's transgender women
http://zeenews.india.com/news/west-bengal/durga-puja-by-kolkatas-transgender-women_1805092.html
Last Updated: Friday, October 2, 2015 - 10:17
Kolkata: Transgender women here have come together this year to organise a special Durga puja in an "attempt to re-claim social space" in the face of "ostracism".
Spurred by the discriminatory gaze they are subjected to during pandal visits, women of the transgender community have taken matters into their own hands.
Organised by Pratyay Gender Trust in association with a local club, all arrangements are being made by the transgender women from Kolkata and suburbs.
"Whenever we visit pandals, we are seen in a derogatory way. We are trying to end this discrimination and create scope for conversation between communities where we and our families live," a member of the organising body told IANS.
"Every one is welcome to visit our pandal," the member said.
They will also, apart from trying to carve a niche for themselves in the society, seek to dissolve gender disparity.
Activities that are traditionally male dominated, the theme, specifications about the idol, marquee decoration, collection of subscription, puja committee formation, will see the participation of transgender women.
Budgeted at Rs 1.5 lakh, the celebrations will be held at Jay Mitra street (off Rabindra Sarani), near Sovabazar in north Kolkata.
A performance by troupe of a senior transgender artist will inaugurate the puja onOctober 18.
The Statesman
Odisha to provide subsidised rice to SC/ST schools
PTI Bhubaneswar, | 02 October, 2015
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said that the Odisha government would take the burden of supplying subsidised rice to the inmates of residential schools run by the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe department of the state.
Patnaik made this announcement while launching the distribution of digitised ration cards among beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act at a function here. Other ministers distributed the NFSA ration cards in 14 districts.
The state government had been supplying subsidised rice at the rate of Re 1 a kg to all the SC-ST residential schools since 2008. However, there is no provision under the NFSA whether these residential schools could get benefit, a senior official said.
"The state government will take the burden of the expenditure to be made for supply of subsidised rice to SC-ST residential schools," Patnaik said.
Stating that his government accords priority to proper implementation of the NFSA, Patnaik said poor would need to get the food security in order to maintain inclusive growth of the state. "The poor people have gained confidence by getting food security in Odisha," the Chief Minister said.
Patnaik said the NFSA ration cards were being issued in the name of elder women members of families in Odisha, which he said indicated his government's commitment towards woman empowerment.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Das Burma, who was present during the launch, said, "Transparency has been maintained in preparing the list of beneficiaries.
Errors, if any, regarding the beneficiaries can be corrected within three months."
The state government has decided to implement NFSA across the state in two phases. While first phase will be implemented in 14 districts from November 1, the second phase will come into force from December 1 in the remaining 16 districts.
The districts which will be covered in the first phase comprises Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Balangir, Kandhamal, Boudh, Angul, Sonepur, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Gajapati.
A total of 3.26 crore beneficiaries will be eligible to get benefits under the NFSA in Odisha, the minister said.
The Tribune
SC/BC employees protest outside DC office
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/sc-bc-employees-protest-outside-dc-office/140912.html
Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 2
SC/BC employees along with the Lok Ekta Front, Punjab, held a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner's office here to reiterate their demand for seniority lists and promotions to be done in the state on the basis of 85th constitutional amendment.
While the SC/BC cadres and general cadres are already in a tussle over the reservation policy and promotions, the SC employees also demanded increase in reservation for the cadres under B and C category from 14 to 20 per cent through promotion.
The front also demanded the taking back of the government letter regarding seniority lists released on October 10, 2014.
Convener and co-convener of the front, Gurmail Sigh Chadar and Avtar Singh Kainth, said the state the government was trying to rob the Dalits of their constitutional rights.
They termed the October 10, 2014, letter against the reservation policy and demanded that it should be taken back.
They said the children belonging to lower strata were not being given concession in fees and various schemes meant for the poor were also not being implemented.
The Tribune
body condemns RSS chief's remarks
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/sc-body-condemns-rss-chief-s-remarks/140913.html
Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 2
The recent statement of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat regarding an end to reservation is aimed at polarising the Indian society, said the National Scheduled Castes Alliance (NSCA). It also amounts to violation of the Indian Constitution, the NSCA added.
"Dalits and OBCs form 80 per cent of the population. In fact it is being felt that reservation should be increased in proportion to the population of OBCs and Dalits. The RSS is talking about putting an end to it," said NSCA president Paramjit Singh Kainth.
The party said the recent incidents targeting the Muslim and Christian communities were also creating tension across the country.
"A number of right wing organisations in Punjab and other states are trying to create an anti-reservation mood. This is posing a danger to the delicate fabric of peace in the country," he said.
"The reservation policy has not yet achieved its goal of empowering the weaker sections and providing social justice," said Kainth.
Even the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, BJP's ally in Bihar, has clarified that reservation is a settled issue in India as mandated by the Constitution, he claimed.
He said Bhagwat's remarks had instigated reactions from across the political spectrum. The RSS's media in-charge Manmohan Vaidya was given the duty to carry out damage control exercise, he added.
"The Sangh had to issue a statement on Bhagwat's damaging remarks maintaining that Bhagwat didn't make any comment on the reservation being given at present to various weaker sections of society," added Kainth.
The Times Of India
Creaming the people: Caste-based reservations
need to be recast for the sake of a fairer society
October 3, 2015, 12:02 AM IST Chetan Bhagat in The Underage Optimist | India | TOI
In India, we stay away from certain issues in the name of political correctness. Sadly, those are the issues that most need attention. One such contentious issue in India is caste-based reservations. While often dormant in people's minds, it doesn't take long for the issue to flare up again. Patel community protests in Gujarat are an example. They attracted so many people that the state government had to ban internet and SMS services to contain the wildfire. While protests may have stopped spilling over on the streets for now, the issue remains in people's hearts.
You cannot ban the internet every time. If at all the protests had a lesson, it is that the current reservation policy, although well intentioned when it was formulated, needs a relook. This is exactly what RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat suggested when he asked for a review of reservation policies so they become fairer.
Of course, his comment was seen as a political mistake. It may help consolidate the anti-BJP dalit vote in Bihar. Hence it is no surprise that nobody from BJP or any other party actually concurred with the RSS supremo's view.
However, we must factor in the longterm interest of the nation. We must also have a reservation policy that best achieves the primary objective – to have a fairer, more equal society. We must also accept that reservation is a short cut. It is a stopgap, artificial albeit quick way to create equality in society.
It doesn't create opportunity. It simply takes opportunity from someone deserving and hands it to another, purely on the basis of birth. In doing so it divides society, fosters mediocrity and demotivates the talented. Hence, reservation is neither victimless nor costless to society.
Around 50% of enrollment in central government educational institutions as well as government job placements are reserved for OBCs, SCs and STs. OBCs have a concept of creamy layer, where families with incomes of more than Rs 6 lakh per annum cannot be eligible for reservation benefits. This does not apply to SCs and STs.
Historically, and in parts of India even to this date, people from backward castes have been denied opportunity and discriminated against. However, this sentence was valid even in say, 1965. Has nothing changed in the last 50 years? Haven't these same reservation policies, which were meant to create a fairer society, achieved their goal to a certain extent? Of course things have changed.
One National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes study reveals that SC candidates (not including ST/OBC) comprised around 1% of Class I (the more elite) government jobs in 1965. This share of Class I jobs had increased to 10% of total Class I jobs by 1995. The number is probably higher in 2015.
This dramatic rise of the share of people from backward communities in top government jobs shows the reservation policy has been successful. However, do note that children of these high-grade SC/ST officers still get reservation benefits. This feudal upper class within the SC or ST category will inherit the benefits of growing up in an affluent environment from their previous generations and also be eligible for a quota like any other below poverty line SC/ST candidate.
The cream in the creamy layer is only going to get thicker, denying benefits to the truly needy. The solution lies in linking reservation benefits to something more quantifiable as an indicator of denied opportunity – income.
Household income is a pretty good indicator of whether a child in that house would have had the opportunity to study for an IIT or prepare for IAS as much as a middle and upper class student. It also seems fair.
What is wonderful about having economic criteria is that as per capita incomes rise, the pool of people eligible for reservation will automatically decline. We may even see a day when we won't need reservation at all.
Today technology allows us to measure, track and monitor household income like never before. Imagine an India where your caste was irrelevant, only your talent mattered, and if you were born to a poor family, you would get help to develop your talent. That seems like a much fairer India than now, where a list of castes gets reservation, and so-called upper castes kill themselves to fight for the leftover seats.
Some argue that reservation is not only for economic uplift but also to increase the social status of a caste. But a better solution is to eliminate the caste system.
Don't use it in government. Let society look down on people who enquire about someone else's caste. If we can make it illegal to make disparaging comments ab
out people from the northeast or backward castes, why not make it illegal to talk about caste?
Most of the world operates very well without caste. Surnames just need to be names, they don't have to place you in society. What use is the caste system today anyway?
Enough has changed and the time has come to recast reservations. Modern technology allows us to do so. If we don't do it, the youth from who we steal opportunities in the name of fairness won't like it. You don't create fairness by doing something unfair.
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
.Arun Khote
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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