From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Updates 02.02.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 02.02.10
Dalit students abooked under SC/ST Act: MLA - Express Buzz
Dalit tortured in the police station - The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com/233161/Dalit-tortured-in-the-police-station.html
'Data on farm suicides has huge errors' - Express Buzz
They fail to wash away their woes - Express Buzz
Where an entire community is terrorised on suspicion - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/02/stories/2010020256731800.htm
Restore land to Dalit farmer: KRRS - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/02/stories/2010020252030300.htm
Govt to fill vacant SC/ST posts soon - The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com/233139/Govt-to-fill-vacant-SC/ST-posts-soon.html
Call for review of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act - The Hindu
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article98677.ece
Express Buzz
Dalit students abooked under SC/ST Act: MLA
Last Updated :
HYDERABAD: Taking strong exception to framing of cases against seven `Dalit' students under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act, Secunderabad Cantonment legislator P Shanker Rao today urged the Governor and the chief minister to take action against the police officials concerned.
``Surprisingly, for the first time in the country, even cases were booked against Dalit students under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act,'' he told reporters in the Assembly lobbies today.
Rao alleged that the police had arrested seven `Dalit' students for participating in the Telangana agitation four days ago and framed cases against them under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act. He wanted the government to book the `erring' police officials under the Act.
The Pioneer
Dalit tortured in the police station
http://www.dailypioneer.com/233161/Dalit-tortured-in-the-police-station.html
Pioneer News Service | Lucknow
In yet another case of police excesses, a 55-year-old Dalit hailing from Maharajganj locality of Faizabad, who made complaint that his land was grabbed was tortured in the police station following which he fell unconscious and later died on way to hospital on Sunday night. Finding that police harassment caused death of a Dalit, the senior officers reacted promptly. They not only registered a murder case and placed the guilty cops under suspension, but the district magistrate also ordered a magisterial probe and issued compensation package for the family members.
Reports said that Ramapati Kori, a Dalit residing in Dalauli hamlet of Maharajaganj in district Faizabad, contacted the local police and lodged a complaint that one Kanhai, a native of same locality had grabbed his land. Surprisingly, the cops instead of probing the matter and taking action against the guilty, detained Ramapati as well as the opposite party and tortured both, especially Ramapati to force them to reach to some compromise. The situation took an ugly turn when Ramapati suddenly fainted due to police excesses. He was rushed to hospital where the doctors declared him `brought dead'. The death of Ramapati sparked agitation and the local villagers gathered and demanded action. SSP Faizabad, RKS Rathore, who reached the spot immediately get a murder case registered against the incharge of the Pura Bazar, sub-inspector, MP Singh, constables Awadesh Kumar, and constables Kamlesh Kumar, and placed them under suspension. He handed over an enquiry to deputy SP, Prem Chandra, while DM also order magisterial probe and handed compensation package of Rs 1.5 lakh on behalf of government and Rs 20,000 from the local administration.
Express Buzz
'Data on farm suicides has huge errors'
BANGALORE: The figures as showed by the National Crime Records Bureau on farmer suicides have "huge errors" resulting in disparity in the numbers of those who have committed suicide in the country said journalist and writer, P Sainath.
He was speaking at the inaugural function of the 36th National Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Clinical Psychology.
The NCRB reports have excluded women, dalits and adivasis, Sainath said.
"In our society, in most cases, the title of the land is never in the name of the woman. However, woman do most of the work in the farmland," he said.
"The adivasis and Dalits have not been recognised as farmers due to improper title deeds," he added.
"The numbers we have is authentic but not accurate," he says.
Sainath pointed out the increasing cost of rural health care. With India becoming the first largest health sector provider, the increasing privatisation of the sector has made farmers shell out huge amounts on health bills, he said.
The cash farming which was largely promoted by the government mainly aimed at the imports also had it affect when the prices plummeted, says Sainath.
Many farmers switched to cash crop such as Vanilla, which in the first two years gave farmers a return of Rs 4000 per kg.
Later the prices were slashed to a meager Rs 68 per kg, which not even enough to meet the farmers cultivation costs, he underlined.
Express Buzz
They fail to wash away their woes
CHENNAI: Oorukku Oru Kudi (The lonely families) a documentary film is a poignant portrayal about the lives of dhobis (washermen), who were discriminated and pushed to margins of the society.
The film was a handiwork of filmmaker Thirumani, which leaves behind the message of a much-needed social transformation for the viewers to ponder. He said, "This film is about the people who were tormented by the caste system, vanquished to the very margins of a social order, who almost have a shadow existence in this society, by a social order which is supported by the religion." This story is about the dhobis who wash the clothes of the Dalits.
Julius, a dhobi woman from Tindivanam said, "Even in my village, the Dalits do not want us to take up other jobs like tailoring, carperntry.
They feel if we stop serving them, they feel a loss of prestige in the eyes of others." Thirumani said, "That is the saddest irony, even Dalits who suffer discrimination in the hands of others, want someone to be under him to feel superior, this attitude should change." Dhobis, who are scattered and less in number, are not even counted properly by the census. The 1991 census say they number 27,000 in the State. According to NGOs estimate including those who have converted to Christianity and Islam in search of a social recognition the dhobi population in the State should be close to 7.5 lakh.
One of the highlights of the film is that the dhobis should be included under the census. The story ends with a thought provoking quote, where one of the dhobis say, "When we go to the thalisdar office, they say because we are Christians we belong to BC, but when we come back to our village we again become a dhobi, where our job is to wash other's clothes, we do not have any respect." The film also highlights other issues like their landlessness, lack of socio-economic mobility, poor educational access and hardly any political representation. The release of the movie was organised by an NGO Community Care Trust.
The Hindu
Where an entire community is terrorised on suspicion
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/02/stories/2010020256731800.htm
Rahi Gaikwad
| "To beat up the voiceless Pardhis in Maharashtra is the easiest thing for police" |
No social action or complaint against police injustice
"Even doctors act as resource persons for the police"
MUMBAI: They are the usual suspects. When there is a theft, the police round up someone from the Pardhi community, a de-notified tribe in Maharashtra traditionally criminalised. In fact, the entire community is terrorised. So are the other weaker sections — Dalits and Adivasis, in particular — who can be nabbed, beaten up and tortured, along with their families, at will and on suspicion with impunity.
"To beat up a Pardhi is the easiest thing. Their community is leaderless and therefore voiceless. Because of the people's bias, there is no social action or complaint in the event of police injustice. People see them as criminals and justify the beatings," said H.P. Deshmukh of Yuva Gram, an organisation which works with the community in Beed district.
He was attending a day-long workshop on 'Custodial Violence and the Law' held here on Saturday.
"The police have an album of Pardhi people in the area, from which people are asked to identify," advocate Mahrukh Adenwala said. She pointed out that "branding" of communities led to many cases of illegal detention and torture.
"If you are a Muslim, you are branded a terrorist; if you are an Adivasi, you are branded a naxal…During the [1993] riots and blasts in Mumbai, we saw the police picking up people. They would not beat them, but get their families instead and threaten to torture them [as a form of coercion]," Ms. Adenwala said.
Various forms of police torture, in violation of a person's fundamental right to live with human dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, were discussed at the workshop.Participants said torture was not confined to beatings in a prison cell; there was mental and sexual torture to boot. The police entered homes and beat up families, they said.
Rajendra Patode of the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, a political party with a strong presence in Akola district, said even medical officers worked as "resource persons for the police."
"Doctors tell the police how to beat, where to beat and how it can be treated. There is a technique, falanga, by which a person is hung upside down and beaten up on the soles. It leaves no medical evidence," he said.
Shocking instance
Narrating a shocking instance of police atrocities in a court case, which has been pending since 2005, Mr. Patode said: "A Buddhist youth Milind Athawale was picked up on suspicion as he happened to be at the spot where a motorcycle had been stolen. While in custody, we learnt, his private parts were injected with petrol. His condition got serious; he was released after five days in police custody, after which he died. Since then we have been asking for invoking the [Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes] Atrocities Act, but it has not been done."
Ms. Adenwala pointed to a grim trend where Adivasis and activists protesting against government policy and fighting for retaining their land were targeted and terrorised in a bid to suppress their voice.
"Earlier the justification [for torture] was that the person is a terrorist; he or she is anti-people. But today, activists who oppose SEZs [special economic zones] and fight for tribal rights are termed terrorists."
During an agitation by the fishing community of Umbergaon in Gujarat, the police cracked down on a morcha in 2000 and beat up activist Colonel Save to death, Ms. Adenwala said.
She urged lawyers and courts to take a stand against custodial violence.
The Hindu
Restore land to Dalit farmer: KRRS
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/02/stories/2010020252030300.htm
Staff Correspondent
HASSAN: The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Hassan has criticised Arkalgud tahsildar V.R. Shailaja, reportedly on whose orders, 480 areca and 20 coconut palms were uprooted from a 35-gunta plot belonging to a Dalit farmer, Purushottam at Hulikallu village in Doddamagge hobli in Arkalgud taluk. The KRRS staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Monday demanding to know the guidelines issued by the Government on clearing encroachments on Gokatte land, tank and agricultural land. The KRRS also demanded that the land be restored to Mr. Purushottam and presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner.
The Pioneer
Govt to fill vacant SC/ST posts soon
http://www.dailypioneer.com/233139/Govt-to-fill-vacant-SC/ST-posts-soon.html
Sunil Kumar | Dehradun
Following instructions of SC/ST Commission's vice chairman Prof NM Kamley, the Uttarakhand Government has decided to fill all the vacant seats of SC/ST by organising a campaign shortly. Additional secretary Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh has written a letter to all principal secretaries, secretaries and departments' head to organise campaign to fill vacant posts of their departments.
She further mentioned that State Government comes to know that several posts fixed for SC/STs are lying vacant for long. Seeing this, the State has instructed the department heads to fill these posts either through recruitment or promotions.
State has further instructed that whichever departments have vacant posts or backlogs in their department should organise campaign to fill these posts as soon as possible. You also apprise personnel department about action taken report (ATR).
It would be pertinent to mention here that State Government had instructed officials to fill such backlog in August 2003, February 2004, June 2004, April- May 2005, January 2006 and July 2008 but they failed to take appropriate action to follow the Government order.
Recently Prof Kamley expressed dissatisfaction over the State Government attitude and used strong words against the State. He had categorically said that State has announced million rupees project and huge promises for the social upliftment of these category people but none has been assigned as liasoning officer to monitor implementation of these activities.
During interaction with Uttarakhand officials they could not give any reason for delay in appointment to fill vacant posts. Commission's member Mahendra Baudh and Satya ben expressed dissatisfaction over the State Government's attitude towards SC/ST people of the State. Although State Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari tried to pacify them but could not answer appropriate reasoning on behalf of State government.
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took seriously and instructed concerned officials to take necessary steps to fill these posts.
The Hindu
Call for review of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article98677.ece
Special Correspondent
Dalit activists here have called for an urgent review of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and introduction of amendments to provide more teeth to the statute while classifying acts such as discrimination, social and economic boycott and blackmail as crimes under the legislation.
Making the demands at a symposium marking the completion of 20 years of the SC/ST (PoA) Act here on Sunday, representatives of Dalit organisations regretted that despite the law having been in force for two decades, atrocities against Dalits were increasing and the authorities responsible for implementing the Act were seen siding with the perpetrators of crime.
The symposium was organised jointly by Jaipur-based Centre for Dalit Rights, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights and the National Dalit Movement for Justice.
The SC/ST (PoA) Act, which received the Presidential assent on September 11, 1989 and came into effect on January 30, 1990, invests the State actors with the responsibility to prevent atrocities and provide protection, relief and rehabilitation to the affected people belonging to SC and ST.
CDR Director Satish Kumar pointed out that the National Crime Records Bureau's figures had revealed that 71 per cent of the atrocities against Dalits and tribals reported between 1995 and 2007 were not registered under the Act. Even in the matters where the Act was applied, proper sections were not used, investigation took more than 30 days and compensation was not paid.
The participants noted with dismay that the rate of conviction under the SC/ST (PoA) Act was less than that under the Indian Penal Code. They said the criminals booked under the Act could be handed down punishment commensurate with the crime after conviction only if the legislation was strengthened through suitable amendments.
Dalit organisations have already submitted draft amendments to the Union Government after wide-ranging discussions with a cross-section of civil society. A National Coalition for Strengthening of SC/ST (PoA) Act was also formed in September last year.
Dalit activists said the punishment for various crimes listed in the Act should be enhanced in accordance with the gravity of offence and special courts and public prosecutors appointed all over the country to ensure speedy trial under the statute.
"Higher castes resorting to social and economic boycott of Dalits, filing counter cases, refusing to pay wages to Dalit labourers, ransacking houses of Dalits and discriminating against Dalit children in schools do not constitute offences under the Act," said CDR chairman R. K. Akodia and added that these discrepancies should be removed.
The participants also said the definition of Scheduled Castes for the purpose of the SC/ST (PoA) Act should be amended to include all the persons whose ancestors belonged to Dalit castes in Hinduism and later converted to Islam and Christianity.
The activists also suggested that a new chapter titled "rights of victims and witnesses" be incorporated in the Act with the provisions such as mandatory registration of FIR, investigation and inquiry, protection, medical examination and reports, relief, compensation and rehabilitation.
Among others, Dalit activists P. L. Mimroth, Toshita Verma, Anuradha Gharti and Yamini addressed the symposium.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
..................................................................
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.
Visit web site | Reply to sender | Click here to unsubscribe
The email is intended only for the recipients. The owners of the Dgroups cannot be held responsible for the contents of the email message.
No comments:
Post a Comment