Dalits Media Watch
News Update 15.01.10
FIR against Tytler for casteist remarks against Meira - Zee News
http://www.zeenews.com/news595856.html
Desecration of Ambedkar statue sparks tension in Itayal village - The Pioneer
Her take on caste and more - Express Buzz
Zee News
FIR against Tytler for casteist remarks against Meira
http://www.zeenews.com/news595856.html
Updated on Thursday, January 14, 2010, 21:17 IST
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Congress leader Jagdish Tytler is courting trouble again. An FIR was lodged against him on Thursday for making caste-based remarks against Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
The FIR was filed against Tytler and Sharma here this afternoon by Dalit Kranti Morcha leader Vidhanchandra Rana. The duo faces charges under various sections of the SC/ST Prevention Act 1989, police said, adding an inquiry was ordered into the matter.
Besides Tytler, who is the Congress in-charge of Bihar, the head of party's state unit Anil Sharma has also been made an accused in the case.
The use of caste names in the list of Bihar PCC office-bearers and dragging Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar into a controversy has deeply embarrassed the Congress leaders who have washed their hands off the issue pleading ignorance.
Sharma has been blamed for the row that has shown Congress in a poor light. The Speaker, a permanent invitee to the PCC, has her caste mentioned in the Bihar PCC office bearers' list signed by Tytler.
Meanwhile, reacting to it Meira Kumar said, "I belong to a political party. As a Speaker, I believe in strict neutrality of the chair."
Congress leader and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is the daughter of the late Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram- one of the tallest Dalit leader of his time.
Rana alleged that both Tytler and Sharma violated the act by naming castes of the leaders in the list and termed the act as "a constitutional crime."
Sharma had denied having released the list with caste details and described it as "handiwork of forces inimical to him."
The Pioneer
Desecration of Ambedkar statue sparks tension in Itayal village
PNS | Gwalior
Damage caused to a statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar here on Thursday morning led to tension at Itayal village under Dabra police station, sources said.
On receiving the information, SDOP Dabra SK Dixit reached the spot with the police force and started searching for the culprits.
According to police, a resident of Itayal village Narain Bhagwat makes the statue and had recently made the statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. He kept the recently made statue out of his house for drying up but in the night, some anti-social elements damaged the statue.
However, on Thursday morning, when the members Dalit community came to know about the incident, tension was created in the area. The SDOP Dabra reached there and controlled the situation. Dixit said that the anti-social elements that damaged the statue are being searched.
Express Buzz
Her take on caste and more
Last Updated : 15 Jan 2010 11:42:47 AM IST
What is the caste of your food? This question points its fingers at Kerala's seemingly secular society which puts on the fake show that the caste system is an issue the state has already solved. And the query is raised by Sreebala K Menon through her debut short film 'Panthibhojanam' which was previewed at Thiruvananthapuram recently.
Sreebala chose Santhosh Echikanam's well-acclaimed short story for her 20-minute short film mainly to highlight this socially relevant issue. The story is a poignant reminder that despite all its cultural and social advancements, Kerala society still retains part of the age old caste system and that Dalits still face social stigma even in urban circles. The manners and food habits of those from the lower section of the social ladder are still laughed at by the so-called upper class who are unwilling to let them enter their world unless it is for their benefit.
Sreebala spins the film around five lawyers, four from the creamy upper caste who are forced to dine with Rugmini the Dalit at Susan's home. The story ends with Sangeetha Namboodiri vomiting the food brought by Rugmini, but Sreebala has added an epilogue where Rugmini wonders when they will all come to her home for the real 'panthibhojanam'.
"The 'panthibhojanam' recorded in history has the lower class having the food normally eaten by the upper class. Never once have we heard about Namboodiris and others going to Dalit homes and eating their food. That is what the story aims to focus Sreebala K Menon's short film 'Panthibhojanam' is a dig at Kerala's puffed up image of a casteless society on. That caste is something that creates borders even among the highly educated men and women of today," says Sreebala.
She made the film to 'convince myself that I can do a film on my own'. "It is like a test dose. I am happy with the final product even though it has a few faults," she says.
Sreebala is planning to market the film through book stalls as a DVD.
Now that short films have attained popularity for their content and style, Sreebala is hopeful that her film will reach out to many as short film festivals and video film festivals have become common in Kerala.
"Short film making is like blogging.
And it is a woman-friendly world too. There is no need to search for a producer, no paraphernalia is necessary. With Rs 2 lakh you can bring out a good film. Not all stories need to be stretched to full-length feature films," says Sreebala who is the associate director with one of Malayalam's most popular directors- Sathyan Anthikkad.
Sreebala created history of sorts when she started assisting Sathyan Anthikkad for the film 'Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka' as part of her internship for a visual communication course.
She then joined C-DIT but her mind was hooked on the film field. So she returned to assist him in 'Achuvinte Amma' and stayed on to complete his next films, 'Rasathanthram', 'Vinodayatra' and 'Innathe Chinthavishayam'. She turned associate director with 'Bhagyadevatha' and is now busy with his new film starring Jayaram and Mamta Mohandas.
"When I came on the scene there were very few girls working in the technical field. But it has changed now. Most of the prominent directors have women assistant directors. The concept of film making as a man's job is passe," she says.
Though being part of the direction crew is tough, Sreebala says she enjoys every bit. "You have to be mentally and physically fit to survive the strain of filming.
And you learn to keep your cool whatever happens. The shooting may go on and on, sometimes at the cemetery, sometimes on the road." So has she ever had to deal with the much publicised star acts? "Never," she shakes her head. 'This field is very professional.
For everyone, time is money. So they don't throw tantrums or try to show off. And being a woman I get a lot of support too. Once here you learn human management and mould actors into our job." The winner of Kerala Sahitya Akademi award in the humour category in 2006 for her story collection '19, Canal Road', Sreebala says her hands are too full with the new project to write.
As if to prove the point, her phone starts ringing. It is Sathyan Anthikkad calling from Alappuzha to know about the pre-shooting arrangements.
And Sreebala switches to her associate director mode happily.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Re: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Update 15.01.10
On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 8:04 PM, Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com> wrote:
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