Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 22.10.11
National panel seeks quota for dalits, OBCs in Lokpal - The Times Of India
Uthapuram's Dalits, caste Hindus reach agreement - The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2559909.ece
Mirchpur arson: Quantum of sentence on October 31 - The Times Of India
Upset Thevar panel members withdraw petition - The Times Of India
India Human Development Report raps Gujarat, praises UP and Bihar - The Times Of India
It will divide India: Sri Ravi Shankar - Express India
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=68113
The Times Of India
National panel seeks quota for dalits, OBCs in Lokpal
TNN | Oct 22, 2011, 02.03AM IST
NEW DELHI: The National Commission for SCs made a strong pitch for reservation for dalits, OBCs and minorities in the Lokpal set-up, a demand in sync with concerns raised by activists.
Commission chairman P L Punia told the standing committee on law and justice that reservation for marginalized classes was a must to ensure justice for these segments in any anti-graft mechanism.
Sources said Punia, who appeared along with former government advisor P S Krishnan, demanded that the proposed Lokpal should enlarge the definition of corruption to include violation of safeguards for SCs and OBCs and diversion of their welfare funds as malfeasance at par with corruption as understood in general.
Punia said the Lokpal set-up should have reservation at all three tiers - search committee, selection committee and Lokpal. He demanded that SCs and OBCs should be represented in the search committee which presently is proposed to include four judicial and four administrative members besides the chair.
The dalit watchdog's stance is crucial, as it is a constitutional body and a mandatory sounding board for decisions on dalit welfare. The parliamentary panel and the government may find it difficult to ignore NCSC's demand also because it echoes the call from activists and intellectuals from these sections.
Punia said Lokpal was important for dalit interests. He said the national panel that he heads has the power of civil court in a pending issue but loses its clout after the inquiry and cannot get its directions enforced. He said Lokpal would be a great help in securing justice for dalits if their grievances were made part of the definition of corruption.
Senior lawyer Rajiv Dhawan said the proposed Lokpal set-up was unwieldy, arguing that the selection panel and the final tribunal should not be large.
The Hindu
Uthapuram's Dalits, caste Hindus reach agreement
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2559909.ece
D. Karthikeyan
It allows Dalits access to Muthalamman temple
The long-standing dispute between Dalits and caste Hindus (Pillaimar) of Uthapuram village has been resolved, thanks to concerted efforts by the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, District Collector U. Sagayam and Superintendent of Police Asra Garg.
On October 15, a meeting was organised at which Mr. Garg, the Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police and elders from both communities discussed the problems.
On Thursday (October 20), an interactive session was organised in the presence of Mr. Garg, where elders from both the communities signed an agreement. When contacted, Mr. Garg said, "It was a team effort and we wanted to solve this issue soon. I hope peace will return to the village."
The agreement allows the Dalits access to the Muthalamman temple and paves the way for construction of a bus shelter near the temple for use by both sections. It also provides for the use of the pathway created after demolishing a wall dividing the two habitations.
It has been decided to drop the demand seeking separate access to the temple and jointly use the common entrance, withdraw cases filed against each other; maintain peace and work towards the development of the village.
Uthapuram village witnessed three major caste clashes in 1948, 1964 and 1989. There were several casualties on all the three occasions. Many cases were filed. Many efforts to conduct peace talks had failed.
The focal point of the dispute was the denial of right to Dalits to worship at the Muthalamman temple. The caste Hindus had built a compound wall around the temple and the tree preventing the entry of Dalits.
The Dalits were also not allowed to stand on the main road, under the shade of a peepal tree, for boarding buses besides being barred from celebrating the temple festival by decorating the streets.
The animosity reached a high when caste Hindus constructed a lengthy wall separating the entire Dalit community from their residences in 1989. A portion of the wall was demolished on May 6, 2008, after the intervention of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and human rights organisations.
P. Sampath of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front told The Hindu that it was a big victory and a turning point in the lives of the Dalits of the village. "We appreciate Mr. Garg and other officials who took concerted efforts to bring an amicable solution and we expect the agreement to be implemented without delay."
Members of both the castes are small and marginal farmers but are divided along caste lines. This effort could bring in the much needed class consolidation to move forward together, he said.
The TNUEF also appreciated the role of The Hindu in highlighting the plight of the Dalits and for bringing the issue to light.
The Times Of India
Mirchpur arson: Quantum of sentence on October 31
TNN | Oct 22, 2011, 06.08AM IST
HISAR: The Rohini court on Friday adjourned the announcement of quantum of sentence of 15 convicted in Mirchpur arson case and fixed October 31 as next date of hearing. The court fixed the next date after hearing arguments of the defense counsels and the prosecution, who demanded harsher punishment for the convicted.
Eighty-two accused were acquitted in the past hearing of Mirchpur arson case, and 15 convicted. A father-daughter duo - Tara Chand and his physically-challenged daughter -- had died in the raging fire after upper caste villagers torched the houses of dalits in Mirchpur in April last year.
Sources said that Tara Chand's sons and their families have been camping in a police post ever since Rohini court took up the case hearing.
The Times Of India
Upset Thevar panel members withdraw petition
TNN | Oct 22, 2011, 11.27AM IST
MADURAI: Agitated over a court directive, the members of the Thevar Jayanthi Committee on Friday withdrew their petition seeking to allow them to conduct a padayatra through the traditional route from Thiruchuli Town via Muthuramalingapuram to Pasumpon Thevar samadhi on the Thevar Jayanthi day to be celebrated on October 30.
The petitioners argued that their regular route was short and used by the villagers for more than 50 years to perform padayatra during the celebrations. However, due to a clash between the dalit and non-dalits in 2008, the police closed the stretch and directed them to use another route to the memorial site. Since the route was longer compared to the traditional route, the villagers faced several problems.
However, One M Dhanushkodi of Muthuramalingapuram filed an impleading petition opposing the padayatra through the traditional route, saying that many houses in his village were ransacked by those who participated in it the padayatra in 2008. With an interim order issued in August, the Madurai bench directed the district collectors of Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram to mediate between the two groups and also to find a solution to the issue. However, the collectors suggested that "the issue could be decided only after sometime before the festival taking into consideration of the prevailing situation."
When the matter came up for hearing before the bench comprising Justice K N Basha and Justice M Venugopal, the counsels of both sides were seen adamant. The bench advised the additional advocate general to mediate between them and report to the court. After an hour later, the AAG informed the court that both the parties were still adamant.
The judges then summoned Dhanushkodi, who in fact pleaded with the court not to grant permission to conduct the padayatra through the old route. When the judges said as part of an interim measure, it would order the police to permit hitherto the used route to undertake since 2008. Agitated over this, the petitioner's counsel withdrew the petition in a huff.
The Times Of India
India Human Development Report raps Gujarat, praises UP and Bihar
TNN | Oct 22, 2011, 01.21AM IST
: Despite impressive growth, Gujarat has not been able to reduce malnourishment levels, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, among the most backward in the country, have done better in improving the lot of their marginalized Dalits and tribals. These are some of the conclusions of the India Human Development Report 2011 released by the Centre on Friday.
The report said high rates of child malnutrition were a major concern for the country. It said Gujarat was among the worst performers, with 69.7% kids up to 5 being anaemic and 44.6% suffering from malnutrition, proving that high growth was no guarantor of improvement in health.
Complimenting opposition chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Mayawati, the report said, "It is worth citing the progress achieved by two of the economically backward states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar." It went further in endorsing the brand of politics the two chief ministers have undertaken, noting that social movements have helped in better performance of deprived classes.
Overall, the human development index (HDI) for the country has improved through the last decade, with the inequality gap between states narrowing down, the report said. According to it, India's HDI gained in the last decade-it increased by 21% from 0.387 in 1999-2000 to 0.467 in 2007-08-and the differences and inequality between the states reduced over time. The country, the HRD authors said, had witnessed an improvement in spreading education but its record on sanitation and nutrition remained dismal. Quoting a study of 2010 on Uttar Pradesh, the HDR authors said, "With high GDP and per capita growth rates in recent years, even Dalits have come to share the 'new prosperity'. They can now be equal to the 'general' category people."
On Bihar, the report said, "There is a vast difference between the Bihar of today and the Bihar of 15-20 years ago." Not only has the state witnessed unprecedented economic growth in the 10th Plan, the per capita social sector expenditure too has increased significantly in the last five years. It noted that the share of expenditure on the welfare of Bihar's SCs and STs to total expenditure had almost doubled during 2005-08 from 0.4% to 0.8%. However, it added that despite the improvements, the condition of the lower castes in UP and Bihar was still not comparable with those in other states. That would require greater growth and social mobilization, the report said.
Santosh Mehrotra, director-general of the Indian Applied Manpower Research and the report's lead author, said the country was moving towards social inclusion, with social indicators of Dalits, tribals and Muslims showing vast improvement. He also said there had been a marked improvement in the performance of poorer states, indicating greater social inclusion. However, the report's findings that the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Karnataka have performed poorly could stir the political cauldron.
"High incidence of malnutrition among children is found among poor states. However, Gujarat, with a relatively high per capita income, witnessed a higher incidence of child malnutrition. MP had the maximum number of chronically wasted and underweight children, followed by Jharkhand," the report said, naming three opposition-ruled states.
Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, releasing the report along with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, did not lose the opportunity to take a dig at Gujarat and Karnataka. "On nutrition, I am puzzled as to why a high rate of malnutrition continues to persist even in pockets of high economic growth," he said.
Express India
It will divide India: Sri Ravi Shankar
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=68113
Press Trust of India
Posted: May 22, 2006 at 1638 hrs IST
Expressing concern over the fast-spreading protests against the proposed reservation in educational institutions for OBCs, spiritual guru and Art of Living proponent Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Monday said that providing quota would not end disparities.
Caste-based reservation will not end disparities in the society. While being born in any particular caste should not be a curse, reverse discrimination is not the way for justice, he said in a release issued in Chennai.
While advocating strong economic support for the downtrodden, he said empowerment of all castes and communities ‘is essential as there are poor people in every community.
Claiming that hundreds of students were seeking his intervention, Ravi shankar said what India needed were measures that will unite the country and remove inequality at all levels.
Reservation on the basis of caste will not only divide the country but also hurt the self-esteem of our people, he said and called upon politicians not to ˜divide and discriminate in the name of caste and religion.
--
.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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