Dalits Media Watch News Updates 21.10.13 6 held for the death of non-dalit womans death case- The Times Of India timesofindia.indiatimes/city/madurai/6-held-for-the-death-of-non-dalit-womans-death-case/articleshow/24454463.cms Girl killed for honour, parents try to cremate her body secretly- Related Story-The New India Express newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/Girl-killed-for-honour-parents-try-to-cremate-her-body-secretly/2013/10/21/article1846444.ece Sand mining sparks Vanniyar-Dalit clash- The New Indian Express newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/Sand-mining-sparks-Vanniyar-Dalit-clash/2013/10/21/article1846487.ece Converted to Buddhism for haircut, shave, says Gujarat villager- The Indian Express indianexpress/news/converted-to-buddhism-for-haircut-shave-says-gujarat-villager/1185035/ Became Buddhist for haircut, shave... mental untouchability persists- The Financial Express financialexpress/news/became-buddhist-for-haircut-shave...-mental-untouchability-persists/1185035 It is high time India tackled the ‘evil’ of the caste system- The National thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/it-is-high-time-india-tackled-the-evil-of-the-caste-system Samaikya stir enters 81st day- Deccan Chronicle deccanchronicle/131020/news-current-affairs/article/samaikya-stir-enters-81st-day?page=2 The Times Of India 6 held for the death of non-dalit womans death case timesofindia.indiatimes/city/madurai/6-held-for-the-death-of-non-dalit-womans-death-case/articleshow/24454463.cms MADURAI: A 21-year-old non-dalit woman, who had married a dalit a few days back, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a village in Paramakudi taluk. An honour killing is suspected as hers was a love marriage opposed by both the families. The womans body was hastily cremated by her family after she was found dead on Saturday, claimed NGO Evidence which conducted a fact-finding investigation into the incident. Emaneswaram police inspector said a case has been registered for suspicious death and six people including the womans parents and sister as well as three others have been arrested and remanded to custody. Sasikala, the daughter of Karuppiah had fallen in love with Kottaisamy, son of Chandran. While the girl belonged to Vilathoor village in Ramanathapuram district, her husband is a resident of Ponnaiahpuram near Paramakudi. Both were classmates at college. The probe by the NGO revealed that Sasikalas relation with Kottaisamy was opposed by both the families. Hence, they secretly married in a temple near Sathirakudi on October 11. However, Sasikalas family members, who came to know about the wedding, took her along with them after threatening Kottaisamy. On Saturday, she was found dead and her family cremated the body immediately, without informing the police. Police, who rushed to the spot after being tipped off by villagers, retrieved the partially-burnt body. The post mortem has been videographed. Police have registered a case to find if it was a murder or death due to other causes. Emaneswaram police are now interrogating Sasikalas father, mother and sister. On Sunday, the fact-finding team from Evidence asserted that it was a case of honour killing. Sasikalas family was trying to marry her off to a person from the same caste. After the wedding, the couple had even escaped to Dharapuram fearing for their lives. On the same day, Sasikalas father had lodged a complaint with the Emaneswaram police alleging that her daughter was missing. But her family members located her at Dharapuram and brought her with them. She was produced before the Paramakudi court on October 15 and it sent her with the family, the NGO members stated. Emaneswaram police had also visited Kottaisamy in Dharapuram and got him to sign an agreement that he would not interfere in Sasikalas life, the NGO claimed. Evidence has demanded an inquiry by a high-ranking police official. Ramanathapuram police are attempting to register a case for instigating suicide against Sasikalas parents under Section 306 of IPC when it should have actually been registered under Section 302, it alleged. Similar cases have also been reported from the region in the past. The police case about the suspicious death of another non-dalit girl, Thiruselvi, in 2008 was converted to murder on April 20, this year. Thiruselvi, a resident of Kalaiyoor village, near Paramakudi, was found dead after marrying a dalit, Daniel Raj, on June 5, 2008. Evidence has alleged that there are similarities in the death of Sasikala and Thiruselvi. Both belonged to the same caste. Honour killings are on the rise in Tamil Nadu and it was high time that the Central governmentpassed a law against it, said A Kathir, executive director of Evidence. Related Story-The New India Express Girl killed for honour, parents try to cremate her body secretly newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/Girl-killed-for-honour-parents-try-to-cremate-her-body-secretly/2013/10/21/article1846444.ece In a suspected case of honour killing, the police on Sunday arrested six people, including the parents of 21-year-old Sasikala, who died under mysterious circumstances at her house in Vilathur in Paramakudi Taluk on Saturday night. Just 15 minutes after Sasikala’s death, her parents attempted to cremate her body secretly in a graveyard. Based on a tip-off from a villager, the police prevented the cover-up and took possession of the half-burnt body of Sasikala. “When we went to the graveyard, everyone had already fled. We have sent her half-burnt body for autopsy,” said N Suresh Babu, investigating officer of the Emaneswaram police station. Sasikala, a Caste Hindu, had married Dalit Kottaisamy of Ponnaiyapuram secretly in a temple near Sathirakudi on October 11 against the wishes of her parents and escaped from the district. The duo had been in love for two years while studying in a Muthukulathur college. Afraid of Sasikala’s parents, the couple eloped to Dharapuram with the help of Kottaisamy’s friend Peramaiyan. Meanwhile, Karuppaiya, the girl’s father, filed a missing person complaint with Emaneswaram police. When Sasikala’s relatives learnt the duo was in Dharapuram, they went with former panchayat leader Narayanan and forcibly brought her to their village, said Kottaisamy’s kin. Then the police produced them in court and sent her with her parents. The police received a message on Saturday night that Sasikala died after allegedly consuming poison and her father Karuppaiya, mother Kanthaayi and relatives were secretly cremating her body in the graveyard. Raising suspicion over the death, some villagers told the police that her parents would have forced Sasikala to consume poison because she married a Dalit. “We have booked Karuppaiya, his wife Kanthaayi, their elder daughter Jamunadevi and three other relatives under section 306 of the IPC (abetment of suicide) and for hiding the death of their daughter,” said inspector Suresh Babu. “Only after examining the postmortem report, can we decide whether her parents killed her for protecting the honour of the family,” he added. The police remanded the six persons in the Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Paramakudi. A Kathir, Executive Director of Evidence, an NGO working for Dalit rights, said the police obtained a written undertaking from Kottaisamy that he won’t interfere in Sasikala’s life hereafter. The New Indian Express Sand mining sparks Vanniyar-Dalit clash newindianexpress/states/tamil_nadu/Sand-mining-sparks-Vanniyar-Dalit-clash/2013/10/21/article1846487.ece Residents of Senur Colony on Sunday laid siege to the Viruthampet police station demanding action against members of the Vanniyar community, in connection with a clash between them over sand mining from Palar riverbed. The incident created a flutter in the vicinity for over an hour at 2 pm. Ponarasu, Thirunavukarasu and Harikrishnan of the colony were arrested on Saturday for attacking Udhaya Kumar, Nehru, Pradeep and Santhosh of Vanniyar community, and residents of the village, following a clash between them over mining sand from the Palar riverbed. Both the groups and their supporters attacked each other on Friday night. In the incident, Udhaya Kumar and three others sustained injuries and were admitted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital. Acting on the complaint, police registered a case against Ponarasu and his supporters under various sections of IPC and arrested them on Saturday. Subsequently, they were remanded to the Vellore Central Prison for Men. Irked over the arrest of members of their community, residents of Senur Colony gathered in front of the police station on Sunday and demanded that the Vanniyar community people who were involved in the case also be arrested. The residents of the colony withdrew the protest following an assurance from police. Later, Police also arrested Raja, a Vanniyar, and launched a search for his associates in connection with the case. The Indian Express Converted to Buddhism for haircut, shave, says Gujarat villager indianexpress/news/converted-to-buddhism-for-haircut-shave-says-gujarat-villager/1185035/ At Vishal Hadmatiya village in Bhesan taluka, 21 km from Junagadh, a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar greets visitors. Its been a week since all the 60 families in this Dalit neighbourhood converted to Buddhism at an event in Junagadh. The organisers of the event have claimed that a total of 60,000 Dalits converted to Buddhism. Dahya Vaghela, 65, a respected elder, says he attended the conversion rally for a haircut and shave. Local barbers refuse to give me a haircut or shave, saying that he will not get any upper caste customers. So I have to travel all the way to Junagadh. We also have a separate temple, he says. Paintings and photographs of Ambedkar adorn the walls of his house. While Dalit families in the area get water from the same tank as upper caste Hindus, they are not allowed to enter the local Ram temple. My children play with upper caste children. But they have to sit separately while eating their lunch. They ask me why they are not allowed to eat with those children, says Dahyas son, Magan, 35, a farm labourer. The main issue is of self-pride. The concept of defilement due to physical contact with a Dalit has waned, but mental untouchability still persists. The contempt that an upper-caste Hindu shows towards a Dalit is humiliating. While the situation will not change overnight, embracing Buddhism is an ideological revolution which will bear fruit in future. Maharashtra is witnessing a change six decades after Ambedkar and others led by him embraced Buddhism, says Ravji Vaghela, Dahyas brother who retired as a head postmaster. Our descendants can now simply say they are Buddhists when someone asks them about their caste. They would thus be saved of the humiliation attached with the term Dalit, he adds. In Saurashtra, it is quite common to ask a stranger his caste. Dalits living in the northern and eastern parts of Junagadh complain that they often face discrimination. Most of them work as agricultural or construction labourers, They say they have to carry their own utensils for eating food or drinking water. Why are Dalits made to eat separately at their workplace? If a Dalit opens a hotel, will people from other community eat there? Will they drink tea at a stall run by a Dalit? Why does a barber refuse to shave a Dalit? asks Jaydev Bapa, an elderly resident of Vijapur village near Junagadh. With Independence, Dalits got equality before law but we have not been accorded social equality. Our community members are labourers, so will they go to work or complain to authorities about the injustice? While dogs and crows are worshiped, members of a particular community are not even being treated as human beings. This is the reason why they community has been forced to embrace Buddhism, he says. With religious gurus exhorting people to bring back the old culture and traditions, we are afraid that our woes will not end. Hence, we are embracing Buddhism which preaches equality, he adds. While the upper-caste elders seem unwilling to change, the younger ones show a broader outlook. The community will have to develop and create a new environment for themselves. Changing religion is hardly going to change things in the village if such a development does not take place, says an upper-caste farmer. In Nakhda village, 33 km from Veraval town in Gir Somnath district, the situation is a little different. Dalits are not made to eat separately, and are also allowed to attend upper-caste social gatherings. Govind Chavda, a Dalit who was the first to attain a Masters degree in the village, and Vallabh Nagar, a Brahmin head of the village, were instrumental in bringing about the social acceptability of the community about three years back. We are very happy with the harmony in the village. But the term Dalit comes with a tag, says Mulu Jadav, 65, a farmer. He admits that he knows nothing about his new religion, Buddhism. But we have to change this situation, he adds. Till a few years ago, I had to carry my own utensils while working on a farm. But this has changed now. I hope things will keep improving, says his daughter-in-law Geeta, 28. Practically, there may not be a sea change in peoples behaviour. But I am convinced that the future of our children will be different, says Chavda, the man credited with bringing about equal status for his community members in the village. In Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district, which boasts of a large population of educated Dalits, around 200 families are reported to have converted to Buddhism. The practice of untouchability no longer exists here, but the mentality lingers. However well-educated or well-off a Dalit may be, he is still at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, says Balude Vaghela, a retired school principal. But the change in religion is unlikely to have any political consequences. In this part of the district, a candidate matters more than the party he represents. Dalits dont have the numbers to directly influence an Assembly poll, so they generally tend to go with the majority community. The religious conversion, if any, will not affect their political affiliation, says Jetha Solanki, BJP MLA from Kodinar and a Dalit leader. Meanwhile, Junagadh District Collector has ordered a probe into the October 13 mass conversion, calling it illegal under the Freedom of Religion Act 2008 which bans conversion without permission from the state. The organisers had only sought permission for a religious conclave, and had said that there would be no mass conversion. But we have received reports that a mass conversion took place. We shall take appropriate action based on the findings of the probe, says Pandey. He says the administration only received applications from 11 individuals for changing their religion, adding that the rules for individual conversion and mass conversion are different. The Financial Express Became Buddhist for haircut, shave... mental untouchability persists financialexpress/news/became-buddhist-for-haircut-shave...-mental-untouchability-persists/1185035 At Vishal Hadmatiya village in Bhesan taluka, 21 km from Junagadh, a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar greets visitors. It’s been a week since all the 60 families in this Dalit neighbourhood converted to Buddhism at an event in Junagadh. The organisers of the event have claimed that a total of 60,000 Dalits converted to Buddhism. Dahya Vaghela, 65, a respected elder, says he attended the conversion rally for a haircut and shave. “Local barbers refuse to give me a haircut or shave, saying that he will not get any upper caste customers. So I have to travel all the way to Junagadh. We also have a separate temple,” he says. Paintings and photographs of Ambedkar adorn the walls of his house. While Dalit families in the area get water from the same tank as upper caste Hindus, they are not allowed to enter the local Ram temple. “My children play with upper caste children. But they have to sit separately while eating their lunch. They ask me why they are not allowed to eat with those children,” says Dahya’s son, Magan, 35, a farm labourer. “The main issue is of self-pride. The concept of defilement due to physical contact with a Dalit has waned, but mental untouchability still persists. The contempt that an upper-caste Hindu shows towards a Dalit is humiliating. While the situation will not change overnight, embracing Buddhism is an ideological revolution which will bear fruit in future. Maharashtra is witnessing a change six decades after Ambedkar and others led by him embraced Buddhism,” says Ravji Vaghela, Dahya’s brother who retired as a head postmaster. “Our descendants can now simply say they are Buddhists when someone asks them about their caste. They would thus be saved of the humiliation attached with the term Dalit,” he adds. In Saurashtra, it is quite common to ask a stranger his caste. Dalits living in the northern and eastern parts of Junagadh complain that they often face discrimination. Most of them work as agricultural or construction labourers, They say they have to carry their own utensils for eating food or drinking water. “Why are Dalits made to eat separately at their workplace? If a Dalit opens a hotel, will people from other community eat there? Will they drink tea at a stall run by a Dalit? Why does a barber refuse to shave a Dalit?” asks Jaydev Bapa, an elderly resident of Vijapur village near Junagadh. “With Independence, Dalits got equality before law but we have not been accorded social equality. Our community members are labourers, so will they go to work or complain to authorities about the injustice? While dogs and crows are worshiped, members of a particular community are not even being treated as human beings. This is the reason why they community has been forced to embrace Buddhism,” he says. “With religious gurus exhorting people to bring back the old culture and traditions, we are afraid that our woes will not end. Hence, we are embracing Buddhism which preaches equality,” he adds. While the upper-caste elders seem unwilling to change, the younger ones show a broader outlook. “The community will have to develop and create a new environment for themselves. Changing religion is hardly going to change things in the village if such a development does not take place,” says an upper-caste farmer. In Nakhda village, 33 km from Veraval town in Gir Somnath district, the situation is a little different. Dalits are not made to eat separately, and are also allowed to attend upper-caste social gatherings. Govind Chavda, a Dalit who was the first to attain a Masters degree in the village, and Vallabh Nagar, a Brahmin head of the village, were instrumental in bringing about the social acceptability of the community about three years back. “We are very happy with the harmony in the village. But the term Dalit comes with a tag,” says Mulu Jadav, 65, a farmer. He admits that he knows nothing about his new religion, Buddhism. “But we have to change this situation,” he adds. “Till a few years ago, I had to carry my own utensils while working on a farm. But this has changed now. I hope things will keep improving,” says his daughter-in-law Geeta, 28. “Practically, there may not be a sea change in people’s behaviour. But I am convinced that the future of our children will be different,” says Chavda, the man credited with bringing about “equal” status for his community members in the village. In Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district, which boasts of a large population of educated Dalits, around 200 families are reported to have converted to Buddhism. “The practice of untouchability no longer exists here, but the mentality lingers. However well-educated or well-off a Dalit may be, he is still at the bottom of the caste hierarchy,” says Balude Vaghela, a retired school principal. But the change in religion is unlikely to have any political consequences. “In this part of the district, a candidate matters more than the party he represents. Dalits don’t have the numbers to directly influence an Assembly poll, so they generally tend to go with the majority community. The religious conversion, if any, will not affect their political affiliation,” says Jetha Solanki, BJP MLA from Kodinar and a Dalit leader. Meanwhile, Junagadh District Collector has ordered a probe into the October 13 mass conversion, calling it illegal under the Freedom of Religion Act 2008 which bans conversion without permission from the state. ”The organisers had only sought permission for a religious conclave, and had said that there would be no mass conversion. But we have received reports that a mass conversion took place. We shall take appropriate action based on the findings of the probe,” says Pandey. He says the administration only received applications from 11 individuals for changing their religion, adding that the rules for individual conversion and mass conversion are different. The National It is high time India tackled the ‘evil’ of the caste system thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/it-is-high-time-india-tackled-the-evil-of-the-caste-system India’s caste system is attracting international censure. Earlier this month, the European Parliament recognised caste discrimination as a human rights violation, calling it a “global evil” and urging EU institutions to tackle it. Though the Indian government has not reacted, the words must have been a knife in the heart. In the past, India has assiduously resisted anything that it perceives as an attempt by foreigners to embarrass the country over the Hindu caste system. Last December, the European Parliament passed a similar resolution expressing alarm at the human rights abuses against India’s “untouchables” (or dalits) as they are known, not to mention the discrimination against dalits in the Indian diaspora. In the UK, which has a large Asian community, the government decided that something needed to be done about the persistence of the caste system among British Asians. MPs amended the anti-discrimination Equality Act to include caste discrimination as a way of protecting British dalits. It is time for India to understand that it cannot act as if the caste discrimination that affects the 165 million dalits in India is a purely domestic problem. If it does not learn this, the Indian government is likely to fall under more pressure to end this horror. Though outlawed since 1950, the contempt expressed by the upper castes continues to singe dalit minds in a million different ways. Every day, they are made to feel small. Every day they are degraded by being forced to do filthy work or by social exclusion. Dalits can still be killed for “polluting” high caste wells by drinking from them. In many villages, they are still forced to live apart from other villagers. From a very tender age, dalit children internalise feelings of inferiority and self-hatred. Despite progress in many areas and rising economic wealth, the distinctions of caste continue to predominate in India. It’s true that the politician Mayawati blazed a trail by becoming India’s first dalit chief minister of a state. In 1997, K R Narayanan was appointed as India’s first dalit president. Some dalits have succeeded as entrepreneurs and in some professions. But these are exceptions to the rule. Virtually every Indian institution is dominated by the high castes. India’s prickly defensiveness on the caste system was also evident in 2009 when the United Nations Human Rights Council declared that discrimination based on caste was a “human-rights abuse”. India fought vehemently to stop the resolution. This reluctance to accept responsibility and to feel shame over the cruelty of the caste system is a feature not only of India’s conduct at international forums but also at home. It is deeply dismaying that, despite the abominations which the caste system has inflicted on dalits for thousands of years, no Hindu leader or organisation has ever thought of apologising for it. Compare this to equivalent situations elsewhere in the world. Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister, apologised for the treatment of aborigines five years ago. A year later, the US Senate formally apologised for the “fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery” of African-Americans. White South Africans were able to do some soul-searching when the Truth and Reconciliation Committee was set up in 1996 to help the wounds caused by apartheid to heal. And in 1998, the Vatican apologised for not speaking out against the holocaust. But upper-caste Hindus? Not a word to indicate a stirring of the conscience or the feeling of any remorse for dehumanising dalits. It would do dalits good to hear an apology but even more, it would do upper-caste Hindus good to recognise the injustice that they and their ancestors committed. Instead, they live in denial because the hatred of dalits is so deep and instinctive they are not even aware of it. Some cheerfully claim that caste has been abolished. Then the papers report how the authorities in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan plan to set up crematoriums for different castes. Or that a dalit bridegroom was thrashed senseless by upper caste thugs for the “temerity” of riding on a horse during his wedding procession, a privilege they deem to be fit only for an upper caste man. If only India could accept international resolutions against caste and use them as a way of spurring itself to greater action to destroy the caste system. But it just isn’t big-hearted enough to do that. Amrit Dhillon is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi Deccan Chronicle Samaikya stir enters 81st day deccanchronicle/131020/news-current-affairs/article/samaikya-stir-enters-81st-day?page=2 Anantapur: The Samaikyandhra agitation continued for the 81st day in the region. Government employees staged protests during lunch break demanding that the Centre reverse its decision. The teachers joint action committee of Anantapur district continued their protest even after the teachers called off their indefinite strike last week. JACTO leaders B. Narasimhulu and K. Harikrishna told that teachers would continue their protests with batches of teachers on mass leave without affecting classes. Teachers took out a rally from Clock Tower towards Sapthagiri circle shouting slogans against the Centre. The teacher leaders threatened to go on an indefinite strike if the Centre takes steps to carve out Telangana. The SC, ST, BC and minority leaders offered Ksheerabhisekham on the Potti Sreeramulu statue at Clock Tower remembering his fast for AP. The Samaikyandhra activists also offered floral tributes to Potti Sreeramulu. Newly elected gram panchayat sarpanches took out a protest rally in Anantapur against the division. They demanded the state be kept united. The students and staff at SKU continued their relay protest at the main gate of the varsity on Saturday. Telugu Desam and YSR Congress activists staged protests at Dharmavaram offering tributes to Potti Sreeramulu statue. In Kadapa, employees came out and staged a protest at lunch break at their offices. Additional joint collector M. Sudarshan Reddy and revenue officers association leader Ramamurthy Naidu expressed solidarity with the protests. YSRC continued agitations in all parts of the district against the division. In Kurnool, Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samiti founder Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy’s bus yatra demanding Kurnool as state capital concluded at Kurnool city. News Monitor by Girish Pant
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 08:17:31 +0000