Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) plans to retrieve panchami lands by direct action

What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights.Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Forum plans direct action to retrieve panchami lands

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) plans to retrieve panchami lands by direct action after a State-level conference at Chengalpattu on September 30.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday, TNUEF convener P. Sampath said that the panchami lands distributed to the Dalits during British rule were under illegal occupation by non-Dalits. The government should verify the title transfers based on records available with the Registration department and take legal steps to redeem the lands and redistribute them to the Dalits.
The panchami lands measuring about 3.5 lakh acres classified as Depressed Class Conditional Lands should be owned only by the Dalits as per law but had been grabbed by the non-Dalits across the State.
The TNUEF has obtained information through RTI on the extent of panchami lands illegally occupied in many of the northern districts such as Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Tiruvallur.
A resolution identifying the lands to be retrieved in the next two months would be passed at the State conference following which the front would launch a struggle to retrieve the lands, he said, inviting political parties and organisations fighting for the Dalit rights to join hands.
TNUEF general secretary K. Samuel Raj, treasurer R. Jayaram and Gudiyatham MLA G. Latha were present at the press meet.
Source: The Hindu Dt 29.09.2010

Puthiya Thamizhagam Organising Agitation on December-6th

Our object in framing the Constitution is rally two-fold: (1) To lay down the form of political democracy, and (2) To lay down that our ideal is economic democracy and also to prescribe that every Government whatever is in power shall strive to bring about economic democracy. The directive principles have a great value, for they lay down that our ideal is economic democracy. Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar




Tuesday, September 28, 2010

State and Central Government SC/ST District co-ordination committee Appealed CIC to take action to publish the reservation rosters in Central and State Goverment Departmental websites

 “Given the time and circumstances, nothing under the sun shall stop this country from becoming a super power.Being grateful has limitations, no man can be grateful at the cost of his dignity, no woman at the cost of her chastity and no country at the cost of its freedom.I hope that Mr. Gandhi will not drive me to the necessity of making a choice between his life and rights of my people, for I shall never consent to deliver my people bound hand and foot to the orthodox for generations to come.” Babasheb.DR.B.R.Ambedkar


Shri A.Sundararaman in his letter Addressed to Central Information Commission has appealed to take action for publishing the reservation rosters in the Central and state government websites to maintain transparency .  The copy of the letter written by him is published here.  It is proposed by the committee to send a similar appeal to Secretary Dept of Posts and National SC/ST and Backward commission.

From: A.Sundararaman
Dt co-ordinator
State and Central Government SC/ST
Employees Dt co-ordination committee.
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar Illam,
23,Chidambaram Nagar,
Tamilnadu,
Pudukottai-622 001.

TO:- The Chief Information Commissioner
August Kranti Bhavan,
Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi - 110 066
Sub:-Publishing of Rosters in the Department  Website


Respected Sir,

This is regarding publishing information on reservation rosters in departmental websites. The department of posts maintaining circle and regional level websites for the benefit of general public as well as staff working in the department. The Right to information act is stipulated that all public authority maintaining all its records shall be made available in the websites.
This Association is observed that reservation roster being a record maintained at various level of the department to monitor the percentage of reservation given to SC/ST/OBC and PH in various cadres’ appointment and promotion is not published in the websites almost all websites of central and state government websites.

To promote the transparency and accountability in maintaining the rosters ,We request you to take necessary action in publishing the reservation rosters maintained by various authorities in the Departmental websites so as to bring the transparency in implementation reservation orders properly and in it is maintained in diligent manner as and when any recruitment made and promotion resorted to.

Since the act came into effect for more than 5 years the various departments of central and state governments are yet to publish the reservation rosters in the their websites. It is bring to your Kind notice that as per the following sections of RTI act-2005,

4(1) (b)(V) “Every public authority shall-Publish with in one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this act, the rules, regulations ,instructions ,manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions”.

4(2) “It shall be a constant Endeavour of every public authority to take steps in accordance with requirements of clause (b) of sub section (1) to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communication, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.

4( 3) for this purposes of sub section (1) ,every information shall be disseminated widely and in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public.

We hope that CIC will prevail upon the various departments of central and state government and public sector undertaking to take sincere effort to publish the reservation rosters in all websites maintained by it as per the above RTI act.

Date:23.09.2010
Place:Pudukottai-622 001.      

Yours faithfully
Sd------------
(A.Sundararaman)











                                                                                             

Ambedkar Manch: Why compendium on quota?

"A people and their religion must be judged by social standards based on social ethics. No other standard would have any meaning if religion is held to be necessary good for the well-being of the people". Babasheb.SR.B.R.Ambedkar
Ambedkar Manch Oppose compendium on quota proposed by DOPT without Constitutional authority!?

The Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Vichar Manch has opposed the Centre's move to bring out a compendium on ‘Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in Service' pending enactment of a new law.


In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, general secretary said “no convincing grounds for issue of a new compendium on reservation in services have been mentioned in the proposed official memorandum.” Nor had any reason for denying reservation in every service and post been explained, or any constitutional provision under which job reservation had been prescribed for the SC/ST.
The Manch pointed out that no mandatory consultation had been held with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and no opportunity was given to the SC/ST Employees Welfare Associations, which were on the panel of the Union Home Ministry.

The proposed consolidated instructions on the reservation policy lacked constitutional authority. These constructions “do not contain the origin of determination of population-based percentage, its detailed criteria and showing the table of population from time to time since independence.”

Mr. Kain said the reservation policy for the OBCs should not be clubbed with that for the SC/ST as their ground realities were different.

“They suffer no social stigma or untouchability and they got reservation only at the expense of SC/ST people.”

The Manch opposed the new methodology of recruitment through ‘walk-in-interview' for higher posts in the administration and the engineering department, and for scientific and technical posts and in hospitals for a limited period.

The reservation policy was not being followed in these appointments, and this practice should be discontinued forthwith.

While voicing its protest against bringing out a compendium without Cabinet approval, the Manch sought the Prime Minister's intervention.
Source: The Hindu Dt 26.09.10

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Harassed activist seeks protection from caste abuse

“For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights.”babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Gangadhar Gaikwad's neighbourhood hates him. His Scheduled Caste background is a constant source of irritation. And a house that the government decided to build him is a thorn in the flesh. One fine day, construction of the house stopped.
“These Mangs [an SC community in Maharashtra] have come and now they want to build a house in front of ours. We'll see how they last here.” Thus goes the refrain in Bajrang Colony in Nanded district, where Mr. Gaikwad resides.

Mr. Gaikwad, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and vice-president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Nanded, told The Hindu over telephone: “The city municipal corporation started building a house on my plot under the BSUP [Basic Services for Urban Poor] scheme as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission [JNNURM]. The corporation has all my documents. They even laid the foundation, but now they have just stopped work. I was not even served any notice.”

In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayan dated September 16, a copy of which is with The Hindu, Mr. Gaikwad has appealed for an end to the caste abuse, threats and intimidation he and his family have been suffering. He has demanded that the officials responsible for stalling the construction be booked under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

“No action”

“We have written to the authorities, but no action was taken against the perpetrators. As a result, the caste harassment has increased. I seek justice and security for my family. If the [abuse] continues, I would have to resort to a fast-unto-death,” he said.

Besides his caste, what makes Mr. Gaikwad vulnerable is his activism. Over several years, he has staged andolans, led morchas, busted rackets and courted arrest. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the Nanded blast of 2006, which upset the right-wingers in his locality. Incidentally, the house of one of the blast accused is close to Mr. Gaikwad's.

Notably, Mr. Gaikwad was instrumental in providing this paper with vital data in connection with the article on the ‘paid news' phenomenon. He earned good press, but also became conspicuous for having taken on the powerful.

In the months following the exposé, Mr. Gaikwad had been threatened by a bunch of local goons. Recently, some threatened him saying the plot on which the house was coming up did not belong to him, Mr. Gaikwad said.

Compounding the family's woes is the discovery that a piece of land in Mahur taluka — donated to Mr. Gaikwad's father by an acquaintance, Paiku Pimpalkar, in 2003 — is now in the government's possession.

“The government acquired it and began building a three-storey structure on it,” Mr. Gaikwad said. A copy of the declaration pledging the land to the father, Yadav Govind Gaikwad, is with The Hindu.

When contacted, Nanded Collector Shrikar Pardeshi said, after a meeting with Mr. Gaikwad: “I have asked the officers to verify.” As for the Mahur land, Mr. Pardeshi said the Gaikwads would have to prove that Mr. Pimpalkar, who gave them the land, was its rightful owner.

Mr. Gaikwad awaits answers, action and justice. For this whistleblower from Nanded, the time has come when he must take up his own cause.
Source: The Hindu dt 24.09.10

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Dog cast(e) aside for eating dalit’s roti

“To open or not to open the temples is a question for you to consider and not for me to agitate. If u think it is bad manners not to believe in the sanctity of human beings, then throw open the doors and be a gentleman, but if you wish to remain a orthodox Hindu then shut the doors and damn yourself, for I don't care to come.”Babasheb.Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.


A dog’s life couldn’t get worse. A mongrel brought up in an upper caste home in Morena was kicked out after the Rajput family members discovered that their Sheru had fed a roti of a Dalit woman and was now an “untouchable”. Next, Sheru was tied to a pole in the village’s Dalit locality. His controversial case is now pending with the district collector, the state police and the Scheduled Caste Atrocities police station in Morena district of north Madhya Pradesh.

The black cur, of no particular pedigree, was accustomed to the creature comforts in the home of its influential Rajput owners in Manikpur village in Morena. Its master, identified by the police as Rampal Singh, is a rich farmer with local political connections.

A week ago Sunita Jatav, a Dalit woman, was serving lunch to her farm labourer husband. “There was a ‘roti’ left over from lunch. I saw the dog roaming and fed it the last bread,” Sunita said. “But when Rampal Singh saw me feeding the dog and grew furious and yelled: “Cobbler woman, how dare you feed my dog with your roti?” He rebuked me publicly. I kept quiet thinking the matter would end there. But it got worse,” she said.

On Monday, Rampal ex-communicated his own pet dog. A village panchayat was called, which decided that Sheru would now have to live with Sunita and her family because it had become an untouchable. “It’s no longer Rampal’s pet and can’t be called a village dog either. It shall now on live on the Dalit side of the village,” the elders adjudged. Sunita Jatav was fined Rs 15,000.

An outraged Sunita and her brother Nahar Singh Jatav rushed to Sumawali police station. They were directed to take the matter to the SC/ST Atrocities police station in Kalyan. “When we went there, the officer asked us why we fed the dog,” recalls Nahar. “So we went to the DSP in the SC/ST Atrocities department and submitted a memorandum to him, as also to the district collector. But no one has registered our FIR so far.”

DSP SC/ST Atrocities (Morena), Baldev Singh, said “We are investigating the allegation. A police team will be sent to the village for the inquiry after which the FIR will be filed.”

Collector M K Agarwal said: “Untouchability in any form is a crime. This case has been brought before the magistrate and since the SC/ST Atrocities police station registers these cases, instructions have been issued to appropriate personnel for punitive action
Source: The Times of India dt 24.09.10

Friday, September 24, 2010

Recruitment camp for employment in Nokia At Vadapalani on 26.09.10

"Learn to live in this world with self-respect. You should always cherish some ambition of doing something in this world. But remember that the age of selflessness has ended. A new epoch is set in. All things are now possible because of your being able to participate in the politics and legislature of your country".Babasheb .  Dr.B.R.à®…à®®்பேத்கர்

 à®¨ோக்கியா செல்போன் கம்பனி  நடத்துà®®்  வேலை வாய்ப்பு à®®ுகாà®®்
சென்னை ஸ்à®°ீபெà®°ுà®®்புதூà®°் நோக்கியா செல் கம்பெனி பிளஸ் டூ படித்த பதினெட்டு வயது நிà®°à®®்பிய 2006/07/08/09/10 ஆண்டுகளில் தேà®°்ச்சி பெà®±்றவர்களை   நிரந்தர பணிநியமன செய்ய வருகின்à®± 26 செப்டம்பர் ஞாயிà®±ு கலை 9 மணி à®®ுதல் பகல் 12 மணிவரை நேà®°்காணல் நடைபெà®±ுகிறது . பணியில் சேà®°்ந்தவர்களுக்கு à®…à®±ுபது கிலோà®®ீட்டர் தூரத்திà®±்குள் குடி இருப்பவர்களுக்கு போக்குவரத்து மற்à®±ுà®®் உணவு இலவசம் .
விலாசம் 
விஜய பாரதி à®®ேல்நிலை பள்ளி , 85,K.G நாயர் தெà®°ு ,தனலட்சுà®®ி காலனி ,வடபழனி ,சென்னை-26 , தொலைபேசி -044 -24990885 ,à®®ேலுà®®் விபரங்களுக்கு தினமலர் நாளிதழ் 24.09.2010 பாà®°்க்கவுà®®் .  
Source:Dinamalar dated 24.09.10

 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

RBI Scholarships-2011

"Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by relentless struggle.... Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions".Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Young Scholars Award Scheme-2011


To encourage learning about the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) among the youth of the country, the RBI conducts a major awareness and sensitization exercise on the role of the Reserve Bank and the banking system across the country. This exercise, ‘RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme’ exposes youngsters to an actual banking and financial environment and inculcates a sense of pride in the selected ones of having had the opportunity to associate themselves with a prestigious organisation, the central bank of the country.
1. Eligibility
(A) Educational Qualification: All students across India who have completed 10 + 2 years of formal education or its equivalent from recognized institutions/boards in 2010 or before and are currently pursuing their undergraduate studies. However, those having enrolled for or having acquired degree(s) higher than graduation will not be eligible. Candidates who have qualified and worked at RBI as a Young Scholar in any of the previous years are not eligible to apply again.
(B) Age: Candidates should be of age 18 years or more but less than 23 years as on September 1, 2010.
2. Number of Seats
A maximum of 150 young scholars would be awarded scholarship by the RBI every year under the scheme. Out of these, a maximum of 50 candidates may be selected through a test conducted in English medium. The rest, up to a maximum number of 100, shall be selected on regional basis through a test conducted in vernacular medium.
3. Entrance Examination
The entrance exam will be conducted in English, Hindi and 11 other regional languages. The regional languages will be Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The exam will be held at around 100 different locations spread all across the country. The indicative List of Centres is given in this notification.
4. Examination Pattern
The examination will be of objective type with multiple choices for answers. The paper will be of approximately 90 minutes duration and will have questions related to role and functioning of the RBI, the trend of banking industry in India and general economic and financial environment of the country.
5. How to prepare for the Exam
All related information including the syllabus for the examination is available on the RBI Website link www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars.
6. Placements and Project Assignment
The selected All India candidates and the Regional Candidates will be placed at the nearest Regional Office designated for the purpose, depending on the size of the office. The selected candidates will be required to work within the RBI on projects/assignments allocated to them by the respective Regional Director of RBI. They will be expected to complete the same in a reasonable time, subject to a maximum of 3 calendar months.
7. Stipend
During their stint with the RBI, they will be paid a consolidated monthly stipend of Rs.7500/- per head. For broken periods, the amount will be calculated on a pro rata basis.
8. Accommodation
During their stay with the RBI, the selected scholars who do not have a place to reside at the centre of placement will be assisted with accommodation for the duration of their project.
9. How to Apply
Candidates willing to apply for the scholarship may apply in the prescribed application form available on http://www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars.aspx either on line or offline. There is no fee for application or examination.
(A) Guidelines for Online Application
Candidates should have a valid email ID.
Go to the website and follow the instructions.
After applying online, the registered candidates should obtain a system generated printout of the registered information and sign at the appropriate place. A recent photograph should be pasted on the print-out and sent along with attested copies of the certificate on the address given below :
Project Co-ordinator
RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme   Project No.9277,Post Box No:7639  Malad (W), Mumbai- 400 064.

(B) Guidelines for filling Application Offline
Go to the website www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars
Download the application form for off-line mode.
Fill the form completely and paste your photograph at the appropriate place, sign at appropriate space and attach attested copies of all the relevant documents.
Project Co-ordinator,RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme,Project No. 9277,Post Box No:7639,Malad (W), Mumbai- 400 064.
All applications - sent online or offline - should be sent to the given address by ordinary post only.
Superscribe the envelope 'Application for the RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme 2010-11'
10. Last Date for Receipt of Application
The application and/or print-outs of application made online should reach the address mentioned above before October 22, 2010 by ordinary post. For the candidates staying abroad and for those posting print-out from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Minicoy Islands, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Ladakh Division of J & K State, Lahaul and Spiti District and Pangi Sub-Division of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, the last date for receipt of Print-out will be October 30, 2010. A print-out received after the last date will not be entertained.

The Reserve Bank of India/Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will not be responsible for any loss of application/print-out in transit or for rejection of application print-out because of non-receipt of print-out on or before the stipulated date.
13. Call Letter for the Written Test
Call letters for the written test to be held on January 9, 2011 will be posted to all the candidates through ordinary post under certificate of posting well in advance. However, if somebody does not get the same by January 5, 2011 he/she should download the same from the RBI website. To download the duplicate call letter candidates should know their application registration number which will also be sent by e-mail to the candidates who provide a valid email-id. Alternately, name and date of birth details can also be used for downloading the call letter from the website.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
a) Before applying for the scheme, the candidate should ensure that he / she fulfills the eligibility and other norms mentioned in the advertisement. Decision of the RBI in all matters regarding eligibility of the candidate, the stages at which such scrutiny of eligibility is to be undertaken, the documents to be produced for the purpose of the conduct of examination, selection and any other matter relating to scheme will be final and binding on the candidate. The RBI in this regard shall entertain no correspondence or personal enquiries. In case it is detected at any stage of selection that a candidate does not fulfill the eligibility norms, and / or that he / she has furnished any incorrect / false information or has suppressed any material fact(s), his / her candidature will stand cancelled. If any of these shortcomings is / are detected even after selection, his / her scholarship / stipend are liable to be terminated.
b) (i) Candidates must submit the attested photocopies of all the certificates in support of educational qualification, date of birth and caste / disability (if any).
(ii) Candidates, belonging to SC/ST/OBC and category should send an attested copy of their caste certificate issued by the competent authority.
However, these candidates will have to produce original caste certificate / relevant certificates at the time of reporting failing which his / her candidature will be cancelled.
c) A print-out not accompanied by copies of relevant certificates, where necessary, or not in prescribed format or not signed by the candidate or incomplete in any respect will not be entertained.
d) A recent, recognisable passport size photograph should be firmly pasted on the application and should be signed across by the candidate. Three copies of the same photograph should be retained for use at the time of written examination. Candidates are advised not to change their appearance till the selection process is complete. Failure to produce the same photograph at the time of written test may lead to disqualification.
e) Candidates should be willing to stay anywhere in India for project work / assignment.
f) Any request for change of address will not be entertained.
g) Any dispute relating to this Scheme shall be subject to the sole jurisdiction of the Courts situated at Mumbai only.
h) The RBI/IBPS takes no responsibility to connect any certificate sent separately.
i) In case any dispute arises on account of interpretation in version other than English, English version will prevail.
j) No candidate is permitted to use calculator, telephones of any kind, pagers or any other such instruments.
k) The candidates, including SC/ST candidates will appear for the written examination at the allotted centres at their own expense.
l) The RBI/IBPS may at its discretion hold re-examination wherever necessary in respect of a centre / venue / specific candidate(s).
m) Final selection of the candidates is subject to his / her being declared medically fit as per the requirement of the RBI.
n) Action against candidates found guilty of misconduct :
Candidates are advised in their own interest that they should not furnish any particulars that are false, tampered, fabricated or should not suppress any material information while registering the information.
At the time of Written Examination if a candidate is (or has been) found guilty of :
i) using unfair means during the examination or
ii)impersonating or procuring impersonation by any person or
iii) misbehaving in the examination hall or taking away the question booklet/ answer sheet from the examination hall or
iv) resorting to any irregular or improper means in connection with his / her candidature by selection or
v) obtaining support for his / her candidature by any means, such a candidate may, in addition to rendering himself / herself liable to criminal prosecution, be liable :

a) to be disqualified from the examination for which he/she is a candidate
b) to be debarred, either permanently or for a specified period, from any examination or recruitment conducted by RBI/IBPS.
vi) The RBI would be analyzing the responses of a candidate with other appeared candidates to detect patterns of similarity. If as per the laid down procedure it is suspected that the responses have been shared and the scores obtained are not genuine / valid, the RBI / IBPS reserves the right to cancel his / her candidature.
for further information visit RBI website:http://www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars.aspx

DMK Government unleash atrocities against SC/ST officers- AIADMK

"Every man must have a philosophy of life, for everyone must have a standard by which to measure his conduct. And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure".Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
Please click the news item
Source: Dinamani 
Source: Dinamala dated 21.09.10

Monday, September 20, 2010

Killing IN THE NAME OF HONOUR

 “In Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent thinking have no scope for development"Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Police look the other way as kangaroo courts pass death verdicts. Jaya Menon travels through the caste-sensitive districts of TN to get the real picture of the horror

 

Acharred piece of earth and some bits of bones are the only signs of a dastardly killing in the name of honour. No other evidence remains of the spine-chilling crime to mar the rustic charm of Maalaipatti village, perched among the green mountains of the Western Ghats in Dindigul district. On July 28, 2008, a few days after being chained in a bathroom and treated like a rabid dog outside her terraced house, tortured and beaten up with a log, young Sangeetha, barely conscious, was burnt to death by her family members near a dry water channel running through a field. The dalit youths, who were called to conduct the last rites, recall in horror how the terrified, emaciated girl had regained consciousness as the flames engulfed her, shouting for help.


The village, in which the intermediate Naicker caste is the dominant community, then purged itself – the floors of the houses were scrubbed clean with detergent and water, and the walls whitewashed. The local Mariamman temple too got a fresh coat of paint. The village had decreed that Sangeetha should die for bringing shame to her community by eloping with a dalit boy from the village.


But the police of the Vilampatti station, barely a km from the village, claim ignorance about the incident. They have, in fact, “dropped action” in the case. Vilampatti circle inspector, D Sakkarai says, “We have closed the case. We found clear evidence that the girl had committed suicide.” Then why had relatives hurriedly cremated the body without even informing the police? “Yes, that is the only unresolved issue,” he admits.


Sub-inspector Geetha Devi of the Nilakkottai all-woman police station, who had been instrumental in tracking the lovers and getting them back to their families, says, “If I had know that such a fate awaited Sangeetha I would never have got them back to the village.”


Even two years after the incident, scribes visiting the village are viewed with suspicion and hostility. “The family has suffered enough,” said a Maalaiaatti resident belonging to the Naicker caste sullenly when asked about the incident. Residents in the colony of dalits in neighbouring Ethilodu talk in hushed tones about how the Naickers had conspired to kill the girl from their own community for daring to elope with a dalit youth.


A couple of days before Sangeetha was burnt alive, allegedly by her own family, Maalaipatti’s dominant caste gathered in the square, not in their own village but in Pullakaadupatti, a km or two away, to hold court and decide how to purge the slur brought upon them by the girl. It did not take long for the elders, hardened by caste sentiments, to arrive at a verdict. “They decided to kill the girl. They burnt her alive,” said a shocked N Kamalanathan, panchayat president of Ethilodu, neighbouring Maalaipatti, shrugging helplessness. The youth, K Balachander (20), whom Sangeetha wished to marry, hailed from Ethilodu.


The shocking spectacle of caste leaders and elders holding kangaroo courts, huddled in the ‘manthai’ (a low-slung, tile-roofed structure) in the village square and passing death verdicts on those who dare to violate the caste diktat is nothing new in Tamil Nadu’s rural areas. “It is a custom so ingrained in the village system that few dare to question it,” says A Kathir of Evidence. “The parents of the girls or boys who rebel and fall in love or marry out of caste are blamed for the ‘shame’ brought on the village and in many cases, they are pressured to murder their ‘errant’ son or daughter or drive them to suicide.”


“There are several such cases that take place, many of them are not brought to our notice,” admits P Murugadasan, inspector of the Manamadurai (Sivaganga district) police station and investigating another incident of honour killing, the Megala case.


“Though both Shiva and Megala were from the same caste, their marriage was considered a dishonour for the family as the girl had been forced to marry a relative a few days before she decided to elope with Shiva. The family and relatives had hatched a plot to kill them both. It was fortunate that Megala escaped,” says T Manoharan (45), Shiva’s uncle from Kattikulam.


“What’s more shocking is the fact that the police turn a blind eye when such killings take place. By turning their backs, they, in fact, encourage such killings,” says Chennaibased Daniel Selvakumar (29), a dalit Christian, fighting for justice in the case of his wife’s death. Sathura (24), hailing from the Thevar community of Vadachery village in Thanjavur had been lured by her family to come back home with the promise that their marriage would be conducted according to Hindu rituals. On March 23, Daniel was informed that his wife had committed suicide. Police harassed the youth when he rushed to the village and refused to allow him to even see his wife’s body.


“I showed him pictures of her body. Her left ear had turned blue. We are not sure if she poured poison into her ear herself or if someone else did it,” said then Thanjavur superintendent of police, now in Chennai’s cyber crime, G Sampath.



LEGACY OF HATRED:


(clockwise from top to Right) Karupayee, Shiva’s mother, is yet to recover from the murder of her son; Balachander’s parents, Kandasamy and Leela, who fled their village in fear have returned but their son never wants to return; A distraught Megala was brought to Chennai by her grandparents

Case buried along with girl as police turn blind eye

Perched on the edge of a highway, Nilakkottai in Dindigul district, is a picture postcard village. But, the neat row of tiled houses, clean mud roads and the comforting picture of quiet rural life belie caste turmoil. Just six months ago, this pastoral calm had been rudely shattered.


In March this year, elders gathered under the ‘manthai’ in the village centre. Twentytwo-year-old Dhanam and dalit youth Vinoth Kumar (27) were summoned for the ‘hearing’. The village dominated by families belonging to the Thevar sect of ‘piramalai kallar’ was shocked that Dhanam, a nurse in a hospital in Chennai, had dared to fall in love with the dalit youth and worse even live with him, defying tradition and caste taboo.

Violent scenes were witnessed in the tiny village square, flanked by a huge water tank and a primary health centre. The young couple were beaten up by the villagers, who ordered Vinoth’s family to leave the village and never to return. Dhanam’s mother Mariammai was not spared too as villagers beat her up and even broke one of her arms for “supporting her daughter and bringing her up in such a fashion”. Her father, A Muthusamy, joined the villagers in punishing his family.

On March 9, the village gathered outside at Jallipatti, on the village edge, in a small clearing beside the highway. A small group of elders then decided it would be the wisest thing “to remove the blot” on the village. Muthusamy was asked to “take a decision”. According to the village panchayat ward councillor and Dhanam’s uncle E Ayyappan (26), in the early hours of March 12, the girl was taken by her father to their garden across the highway. “Muthusamy kept a bottle of poison on the ground and told his daughter that either she should take it or he would consume it as he could not live down the shame. Dhanam drank it up,” said Ayyappan.

Three family members then carried Dhanam’s body back to the village, to a small patch of ground used by the villagers as a cremation ground. Truck tyres were placed on the body to make it burn faster and then it was set on fire. Today, a burnt patch and some pieces of bones are all that remain of a shocking death. “Though we have two police constables living in our village, the case was completely hushed up,” said Ayyappan.

Nilakottai panchayat president A Seeman is yet to get over the shock. “The issue was not brought to me. We didn’t know what happened until after the incident. We only heard that the

girl was forced to marry her relative. But she was with him for about five days and then ran away again with the dalit youth. She was tracked and brought back by the villagers and the next thing we knew, she was dead,” he said. The Nilakottai police plead ignorance.

DGP Letika Saran has promised action if the details of the case are faxed to her office. “We register all such cases as murders. All the conspirators too are charged with murder. It can be a case of suspicious death. But as soon as we get evidence pointing to murder, we alter the IPC sections accordingly,” she told The Times of India. But stern police action in some cases have failed to act as deterrent for villages cocooned in their own laws.


Honour killing: Women murdered or driven to suicide

Honour killings are usually recorded as murders or suicides, but activists are beginning to take notice as a number of these killings of men and women who have married across caste lines are in districts that are categorised as ‘caste-sensitive’ by the police.


“In five of the six cases of honour killing in the state in the last three months, it is the women who were either murdered or driven to suicide,” Kathir said.

As the Centre mulls an amendment to the Indian Evidence Act (in the wake of a recent rash of ‘honour’ killings in the north, instigated by khap panchayats), which seeks to put the onus on the caste councils to prove their innocence and make them equally culpable, murders and instigated suicides to uphold ‘honour’ continue in Tamil Nadu's castesensitive southern districts.

According to CPM state secretariat member P Sampath, attempts by successive governments to bridge inter-caste hostility—with measures such as the statesponsored social justice tea parties, samathuvapurams (egalitarian colonies) and cash incentives for intercaste marriages—have been mere cosmetic efforts that fail to hide the lack of political will. “The government is neither keen on a legislation nor do they have a proper social outlook. They see caste-related issues as a law and order problem,” says Sampath.

In some cases, police who have a crucial role to play in creating awareness, help to hide the crime, registering killings as suicides. “There has to be social awareness,” admits DGP Letika Saran, who feels the media has a “greater role” to play in this.
Victim Sangeetha


The 21-year-old Naicker girl fell in love with dalit youth Balachander, as they both went to college in the same bus. They decided to elope after realising her parents would never agree to their marriage CRIME NO 96/2008, Dindigul District

There is little evidence now of the gruesome death of a young girl which took place two years ago in Maalaipatti village in Dindigul district. Villagers say Sangeetha, who was tortured and beaten for about two days, was administered poison and then burnt alive. The Naicker-dominated village, which had held court two days before the incident, to pass the ‘death’ verdict, then purged itself. Houses were cleaned and whitewashed. The village had decreed that Sangeetha die for bringing shame to her community by eloping with a dalit. But police claimed they found evidence that the girl had hanged herself.

STATUS: Though initially the VCK took up the case, demanding an inquiry, the Vilampatti police station subsequently dropped the case

 
Victim Shiva


Shiva’s family claims he had kept away from Megala after she was married to her uncle. But she eloped with Shiva. They lived together for about 25 days before he was killed by her family CRIME NO 266/2010, Sivaganga District

It was a murder that shook Kattikulam, near Madurai. Megala’s 21-year-old husband, Shiva, was hacked to death. Megala, having escaped being murdered herself and now in the ‘custody’ of her grandparents in Chennai, is the only complainant. Few know her whereabouts, including the Manamadurai police tracking the case. The investigating officer says such killings are quite common, a few don’t even reach police stations. The officer is yet to get a copy of the tape from TV channels which recorded a statement of Megala, a crucial piece evidence to the gruesome murder.

STATUS: The murder is under investigation and Megala’s father, brother and uncle are lodged in prison. Shiva’s siblings have threatened retribution



Victim Sathura


The Thevar girl met her husband Daniel, a dalit Christian, in a multinational bank where they worked together. Her parents promised to conduct their wedding. But she was allegedly fed poison CRIME NO 77/2009, Thanjavur District

Sathura (24), a Thevar girl, who married dalit Christian Daniel against her family’s wishes, was persuaded by her parents to go back to their Vadachery village in Thanjavur district for a wedding according to Hindu rituals. Daniel was to join her later. A few days after Daniel last saw her, Sathura messaged him to say her family was “behaving strangely”. Daniel was later informed that she was dead, but was never shown his wife’s body. Daniel has accused Sathura’s parents of poisoning her. The local police declined to cooperate and even show him the body of his wife.

STATUS: After Daniel petitioned the court, the case was altered from one of suicide to one of abetting suicide and handed over to CB-CID
Source: The Times of India 20.09.10

Centre has no money for universal PDS: Sainath

 “The basis of my politics lies in the proposition that the Untouchables are not a sub-division or sub-section of Hindus, and that they are a separate and distinct element in the national life of India.”Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

P Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu, delivering a lecture in Chennai on Friday
Hunger manifests itself in so many forms, be it farmers' suicide, decline in per capita availability of food grains, children surviving without a drop of milk, 70-year-olds pleading for a job in scorching heat in the hinterlands, but the Centre has no money for universal public distribution system, said P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu.

In his talk on ‘Slumdogs Vs millionaires: Farm crisis and food crisis in the age of inequality' organised by Indian School of Social Sciences in the city on Friday, Mr. Sainath said: “This meeting is for three hours. In three hours, 51 Indian children die of malnourishment and 6 farmers commit suicide and the Centre writes off Rs.171 crore in tax to corporates.”

To implement universal PDS on the lines of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Centre needs Rs.90,000 crore. This year, the corporate income tax exemption was Rs.80,000 crore. The exemption from tax to corporates has grown every year from 1991. This is apart from the subsidy by way of SEZs, loans, credits, power and water. The Centre, however, has no money for universal PDS, he said. The Prime Minister who was passionate about the (Indo-U.S.) nuclear deal and who threatened to resign in Parliament for the deal has no passion or even the inclination to perform as a Prime Minister to feed the hungry.

On rising inequality, Mr. Sainath said the city of Mumbai's latest tourist attraction was a monument built for one family at a cost of $2 billion of a man tipped to be the richest man in the world in another five years. Half of the same city's population lived in slums and 76 per cent who lived in formal houses lived in one-room tenements, he said.

Three official committees have clearly revealed that rural poverty was much higher and that 836 million in the country earned less than Rs.20 per day. As much as 86 per cent of all Dalits and Adivasis and 85 per cent of all Muslims were in the grip of poverty. The farmers who produce food have no food security. While the monthly per capita expenditure of a farm household was Rs.503, the family spends 60 per cent of it on food. The farmers have no control over seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, power, water or the prices. “This is hunger,” he said.

The suicide of the farmers was only the consequence of a crisis, the outcome, not the origin. The corporate highjack of farming and the wrong agricultural policies of the Centre and State governments are the reasons, Mr. Sainath said, urging the Indian intelligentsia to reconnect with the masses to safeguard democracy.

Source: The Hindu dated 18.09.10

What should Indian nationalism mean for dalits?

"The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual. This being the situation, it is clear that you cannot develop your personality at all in Hinduism".Babasaheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

I notice a continuous stream of accusations at dalits as anti-
national. I want to present a dalit viewpoint on India's post-
independence reality and seek your views on this.

Despite their horrible pre-independence conditions, dalits chose to
align with India instead of choosing yet another partition. Dr.
Ambedkars visionary first speech in the constituent assembly clearly
proclaims the nationalistic fervour of dalits. This speech can be
reviewed from the following link after the section of Jayakars
amendment.
http://www.dr-ambedkar.com/constitution/63A1.Dr.%20Ambedkar's%
20Entry%20into%20the%20CA.htm

The present system of reservations was created by Congress as a
compensation for Dr. Ambedkars demand for separate electorates.
Dalits continue to bear the results of Gandhi's blackmail of
Ambedkar into signing the pune pact which gives them stooges of non-
dalits as representatives.

Indias post-independence development strategy has resulted in an
upper caste oligopoly of value chains in the private sector. This
oligopoly includes manuvadis christians and muslims too. This
oligopoly consciously and unconsciously discriminates against dalits
and relegates them to low value jobs/businessses. Due to this the
economic growth of India has increased the inequality in India
instead of reducing it. Unless dalits are enabled and empowered to
participate in the economic growth, the economic growth of India
will continue to increase the inequality rather than reduce it.

In the 2001 census there was a detailed section on the condition of
dalits. The situation of dalits is horrible as described in that
document. The following analysis is based on this section and based
on analysis of data and articles in the media.

Just 10% of dalits work in government, and public sector. 90% dalit
dalits work in organised and unorganised private sector. For these
90%, literacy, property ownership, healthcare, insurance, finance or
even non-discriminated access and participation in social resources
and social life in general remains marginal. While the situation has
improved in urban areas, the evidence from rural areas is
horrifying.

Despite independence, masaccres like Gohana, Jhajjhar, Tsundur and
many others go practically unpunished and even uncried for compared
to the long gone Jallianwala baug massacre which is posited by
Indian media as something that all Indians are supposed to cry over.
Dalit viewpoints are inadequately represented or misrepresented by
the media, where dalits are scare in ownership and management.

Elections are rarely free, fair and non-violent, the media is
hostile to dalit viewpoints due to lack of dalits among media owners
and managers, illiteracy and poverty of dalits is used to misguide
them, the pune pact ensures that radical dalits never get elected
and only subservient dalits get elected.

The courts too have recently slid into the support of non-secular
ideologies hostile eventually of the basic principles of the
constitution. The Obiter dicta of Justice Dharmadhikari posted on
this group is a recent example.

The economic dependence of dalits on non-dalits continues due to no
change in rural areas. The executive starting from elected
representatives and ministers down to lower level functionaries too
have become aligned with upper caste elites and consume the major
portion of development funding as confessed by Rajiv Gandhi.

But non-dalits continue to be hostile to ANYONE FROM ANYWHERE who
seeks to enable and empower dalits. If Christians seek to enable and
empower dalits in exchange for conversions, manuvadi hindus call
them anti-national and seek to stop them. Same is true about
Muslims. If dalits seek help of USA, US and UN in enabling and
empowering themselves, because Indians and India have not enabled
and empowered them such dalits are labeled anti-national.

If 90% dalits not got much out of independence, what is the exact
expectation of those who have benefitted out of India's independence
from them? What should India mean to them according to Indians like
you? Is there any substantial freedom for dalits in this context,
defined as Amartya sen does? What then should being Indian mean to
dalits according to Indians like you?

I raise this question with you as to "what should Indian nationalism
mean for dalits". As a dalit, I sincerely seek your views on
this question which has bothered me for years.
Pratap
Source: Dr.Ambedkar.org

Tamilnadu Govt spend more money for Temple than Dalits Welfare

"Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die". Babasheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
Iconoclast Periyar's heir now temple patron

Iconoclast Periyar's heir now temple patron

Tamil Nadu's Dravidian movement, built on the foundation of
atheism and rationalism, is beginning to shake at its roots with
founding member and chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi lavishing
funds on temple renovation in a way not seen in at least a century.
The movement — reformist for the untouchables and ruinous for the
Brahmins — has come a full circle from the days of breaking idols of
Hindu deities, especially the ubiquitous Ganpathy, to spending
hundreds of crores renovating temples and encouraging its members to
participate in them.
Karunanidhi, 87, is the last of the atheist politicians left of the
Dravidian crop who have ruled the state for 33 of the last 43 years.
His predecessors, the late friend-turned-rival MG Ramachandran, and J
Jayalalithaa, discarded the 'rationalist' plank decades ago.
This Friday will mark the Kumbabishekam, or the consecration, of the
centuries-old Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Sholinghur, about
100 kilometres north west of Chennai. Mr Karunanidhi has deputed
colleagues to supervise the work.
"Till date we have spent Rs 420 crore on temple renovation and this is
a clear evidence to show the amount of interest that Kalaignar has
shown in promoting temples in the state," says KR Periakaruppan,
minister for Hindu religious and charitable endowments.
Spending on temple renovation, praying or even cozying up to religious
leaders is hardly surprising for anyone in a country where prime
ministers and presidents often disturb the silent prayers of the
common man with their presence at prominent temples. But when Mr
Karunanidhi, a self-proclaimed atheist who has been living next door
to a Krishna temple for decades, attends to temple renovation, it is
an irony.
This change of heart can be attributed to several factors. A strategy
to get votes as people throng temples and religious gurus to seek
solace in a fast-paced material life. Or, a genuine desire on the part
of someone in the evening of his life and worried about his legacy to
connect with God.
"Spending money on temple renovation would not help the DMK government
fetch any votes," says Cho Ramaswamy, political commentator and editor
of Tamil magazine Thuglaq.
Part of the change can be attributed to the state's political
landscape, which has transformed beyond recognition. The Congress is
no longer the dominant party, many of the Dravida movement's cherished
goals, such as higher reservation for backward castes, have been met,
and the beneficiaries have not only become prosperous, but have also
started courting God and religion in a big way.
Also, to be fair, the Dravida movement never tried to project itself
as a comprehensive atheist party. While the anti-Brahmin rhetoric was
strong, it took care to ensure that it did not hurt the religious
beliefs and traditions of many of the state's people, including their
myriad gods and goddesses. So, while Karunanidhi would take time out
and attack the Ramayana, he never spoke ill of Murugan, who was
recognised and promoted as a 'Tamil god'.
Since Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam returned to power in May
2006, it has spent around Rs 420 crore on temple renovations. This is
a near threefold jump over Rs 147 crore spent in the five-year rule of
rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or AIADMK, led by
believer J Jayalalithaa. There are 38,481 temples, mutts and trusts
under state control.
Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa and Ramachandran have their roots in the
Dravidian Movement. The seeds of the movement were sown in 1925 when
EV Ramasamy Naicker, known as Periyar, or the elder, walked out of the
Indian National Congress convention after the then Brahmin-dominated
party refused to consider a resolution seeking proportional
representation.
Periyar's reasons for seeking change were strong. In 1914, of the of
the 650 graduates in then Madras Province, 452 were from the Brahmin
community. Of the 15 elected for the All India Congress Committee, 14
were Brahmins.
Periyar led the Self-Respect and the Anti-Hindi movements of the
aristocrats-led Justice Party formed to further the non-Brahmin
interests in the four southern states. The party was renamed Dravidar
Kazhagam in 1944 with rationalism and atheism as its main planks and
Karunanidhi and his mentor CN Annadurai among the top leadership.
"The assets of a temple — land, buildings, jewelry, utensils, cash —
should be used for the welfare of the people," said its first
manifesto, quoted in the book A History of the Dravidian Movement by
another founding member, VR Neduncheziyan.
Karunanidhi is not only devoting his energies to temples, but also to
refurbishing their dilapidated cars, which are used during festivals
and vital for the rural economy.
"The main purpose of this is to promote temple tourism and portray
Tamil Nadu as a temple tourist destination," says Periakaruppan. "By
doing such renovation works, local economic activity also gets a
boost. The areas surrounding the temple area also grow and get to do
good business."
The state government, which has the famous Srivilliputtur temple tower
as its emblem, has ordered the repairing of 225 temple cars at an
estimated cost of Rs 10.84 crore. Of the 960 wooden cars, some 16 have
been rebuilt for Rs 83.85 lakh.
"We have now started identifying temples which are 1,000 years old and
renovating it," says N Thirumagal, joint commissioner of the Hindu
religious board. Government grants have been raised more than 200
times in the last two decades to Rs 9.75 crore from Rs 45 lakh a year
in 1998-99.
The DMK, which gained huge popularity in its early years by
discrediting religious heads and priests through street protests and
film dialogues, has been getting closer to them, though for the
economic uplift of the poor.
Karunanidhi, known as Kalaignar to followers, rubbed shoulders with
Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparti a few years ago, when the latter donated
funds to build irrigation projects in the state. He has also started
taking up yoga, ostensibly for health reasons.
Despite this marked shift in attitude, many doubt whether he is
actually turning a believer, or just playing to the gallery.
"Karunanidhi will not change himself from being an atheist," said
Hindu Munnani leader Rama Gopalan. "His actions are to deceive
gullible people like us. Has he ever expressed his belief in God in
the open? No. He is practising yoga due to health concerns and not out
of any belief."
Rival Ramachandran set the tone for the Dravidian leaders' acceptance
of God nearly two decades ago. He created a stir in the early 80s when
he visited the Mookambika temple at Kollur in Karnataka. His
successor, Jayalalithaa in the AIADMK, an offshoot of the Dravida
Kazhagam like the DMK, publicly displayed her belief by visiting
temples.
In one such visit to Kumbakonam during Maha Maham, a holy day in the
Tamil calendar, a stampede led to scores of deaths. But her belief in
seeking divine intervention did not change.
Karunanidhi's long-term associate K Veeramani, president of the
Dravida Kazhagam, who blows hot and cold on his policies, believes
that the actions may give a feeling that he is a believer now, but he
is not. "Two days ago when we celebrated Krishna Jayanthi, the CM did
not issue any statement wishing people and he has never done it for
any festival for that matter," says Veeramani.
"This is a clear indication that he is strongly sticking to his
atheist principles." But the funds spent on temples, "can be diverted
for better purposes like education and hospitals."
Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com,dr.ambedkar.org