DALIT ATROCITIES - 2005 - Indian Social Institute

vacancies in the reserved panchayats of Keeripatti, Pappapatti and Nattamangalam in Madurai
district, but Dalits here feel that it will be another exercise in futility like all the other elections held
in these constituencies ever since they were declared reserved constituencies in 1996. Two men,
who contested the elections for Keeripatti and Papap-atti in 2003, on behalf of the Dalit Panthers
of India, said they are shunned by the upper castes in their village for daring to enter the fray
against their wishes. The people of their own community in these villages are boycotting them
and they are also afraid to be seen with them for fear of upsetting the upper castes, they said.
On the other hand, the Piramalai Kallars, the land owning high caste community leaders here
deny that they are preventing the Dalits from filing nominations for the posts of presidents of the
reserved panchayats. "If they are not coming forward to file nominations, how can we be blamed
for it?" their leaders questioned. Mr Annakodi, a former president of the Pappapatiti panchayat
and Usilampatti panchayat says that they were not standing in the way of the Dalits contesting
elections. But he said when the Dalits were a minority in these panchayats, it was unreasonable
for the authorities to designate them as reserved constituencies. Mr Poongudiyan and Mr Suppan
contested the polls for the panchayat president post of Keeripatti and Pappapatti respectively with
the backing of the DPI. But they lost badly due to their opponents who were nominated by the
upper caste communities in their villages. The men had found it hard to campaign in these
villages even under heavy security. Mr Poongudiyan was attacked by villagers at Keeripatti, when
he went to campaign for the elections in 2003. A case was registered against more than 100 for
the attack, but so far no action has been taken against them. (Asian Age 4/4/05)
In UP, Dalit & Muslim IAS officials out in cold (2)
Lucknow: MULAYAM SINGH Yadav's heart may beat for Muslims and dalits, but his deeds do not
match his words. And this could be seen best in the posting of IAS officials. No dalit or Muslim
IAS officer is in plum or decision making posts as all of them are occupied by upper caste. Take
the case of Muslim LAS officers: The senior most officer is Anis Ansari — a 1973 batch official.
He is posted as Principal Secretary, in Panchayati Raj department. Interestingly, the same post
was held by 1982 batch IAS officials, that too almost eight years ago. Among other Muslim
officials, Naseem Zaidi, a 1976 batch IAS officer is on Central deputation. Similarly, Halim Khan is
in Delhi. Majid All, another Muslim IAS officer, is posted in Kanpur, while Md Mustafa is Special
secretary in Minority Welfare department. "It seems the Chief Minister has no faith on Muslim
officials and therefore he has kept them away from active administrative work," a senior Muslim
IAS official told The Pioneer on Tuesday. The situation is no different for the dalit officials. There
are at least 20 dalit IAS officials of 1970 to 1981 batch. Senior most is Sambhu Nath, a 1970-
batch IAS officer. He is Principal Secretary to the Governor. The 1972-batch Chandra Pal is
waiting posting while his batch mate HK Birdi is in Department of General Administration. The
1974-batch Harish Chandra is member Revenue Board while DS Bains of the same batch Is
Chairman, Sugar Corporation. Karnail Singh (1975 batch), who was Principal Secretary to the
Chief Minister, has gone to the Centre on deputation while Rajendra Bhonwal, again of 1975
batch is in department of programme implementation. The only saving grace for dalit officials, per
se, is appointment of DC Lakha as Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies. Though it is said
to be a "critical posting" in view of alleged food scam, the posting seems to be a plum one.
(Pioneer 6/4/05)
Dirty face of tsunami relief (2)
Chennai, April 5: There is an overriding sense of being hard done by "Why can't they provide the
same relief — at least the rice and cash — to we Dalits as they have to the fishermen?" asks a
Dalit woman in Nagapattinam, the Tamil Nadu district worst hit by the December tsunami. The
woman, her face shrunk and wrinkles all over her forehead, is one of the hundreds in the coastal
tract who were dependent on inland fisheries. They now barely manage to eke out a living by
"catching prawns with their hands" while the males in their families work as daily wage labourers
for the upper-caste fisherfolk. "If anything, our votes are much more than the fishermen and yet
nobody from the government has bothered to come to us," the old lady fumes. These scenes are
part of Caste 'e'Away, a 30-minute documentary on the discrimination against Dalits during
tsunami relief and rehabilitation. The scene then cuts to a desolate long culvert on which a state
transport bus whizzes past. The commentary by actor-turned-filmmaker Revathy zooms on