DALIT ATROCITIES - 2005 - Indian Social Institute

Students of engineering colleges throw many parties — farewell for seniors, welcome parties for
new students — but only those belonging to a particular caste are welcome. "C-parties" are
meant for Chaudarys alone (in other words Kammas), "K-evenings" are for the Kapus while "D's
discos" are for the minorities and other classes. J. Manjula, student of Siddhartha Engineering
College said, "On the very first day of college our seniors tell us to introduce ourselves by clearly
mentioning which community we belong to. Accordingly, they befriend us." Once the groups are
formed, it is a case of who is better-and bigger. Moreover, if C-party spends a certain amount, K-
party tends to splurge more. "Comparisons are inevitable. If students belonging to one caste chill
out with frills and thrills, we plan a better bash," laughed V. Raghunath of KLCE. Sadly, it is
alleged that lecturers also get dragged into this caste-based groupism. They follow the caste rule
when attending a party. "Lecturers do not encourage these kind of activities. On an odd occasion,
perhaps one or two teachers may have attended such a party for a short time primarily because
of the close rapport they share with the students. Otherwise, by and large we stay out of it,"
clarified a lecturer. However, Dr V. Vasudeva Rao, the principal of Sid-dhartha Engineering
College admitted, "Students indulging in caste-based parties is a sad state of affairs." (The Hindu
15/4/05)
Paswan for Dalit-minority unity (2)
BHOPAL: The Lok Janshakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan, said here on Thursday that his
party would try to unite Dalits, minorities and the poor youths belonging to the upper castes
keeping in focus the next round of elections in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country.
Addressing the Ambedkar Jayanti rally here, Mr. Paswan said his party would fight for the rights
of the backward castes and shall never pit one caste or religion against the other. His party
already Holds the key to the formation of the next Government in Bihar, he said, adding "people
are now leading a normal and secure life in Bihar, whereas earlier one only heard of rapes and
murders in the State". Now it was his turn to devote full attention to Madhya Pradesh, he said,
further stating that he would not rest till the national Vice-President of the party, Phool Singh
Baraiya, becomes the State Chief Minister. He also accused the Bahujan Samaj Party chief and
former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, of trying to malign the image of Mr. Baraiya, who
headed the State unit of the BSP before he was dismissed from the party. Mr. Paswan said that
he believed in accomplishing what he says and this has been demonstrated by him on every
occasion. (The Hindu 15/4/05)
Dalit rights propaged on Ambedkar Jayanti (2)
New Delhi: The 114th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, celebrated as International Dalit Day in
the city on Thursday, saw leaders, politicians, activists, schools and NGOs propagating the
message of "liberation". The day, they said, marks the need to emancipate and liberate the
oppressed who are discriminated against culturally, politically, socially and economically.
Said Minister of state for Schedule Cast/Schedule Tribes welfare Raj Kumar Chauhan:
"Babasahe,b was the one who brought the concept of reservation in the Indian Constitution. Apart
from reservation, we should strive to help the dalits in all ways." After inaugurating an Ambedkar
statuette at a government park in Mongolpuri, Chauhan spoke about the welfare work carried out
by the government for dalits including launching financial schemes, educational loans and
employment schemes. Chauhan said: "The sqfai karamchari commission is one such scheme
which is about 90% complete and will be in place within the next 2-3 months." The National
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) that provides a platform for activists observed the
occasion by voicing some of its demands at the celebrations of Ambedkar's birth anniversary.
Their list of demands included ending the culture of impunity, need for affirmative action and
reparation for all historical injustice in form of land and assets. Said national convenor of National
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Paul Divakar: "Although we are not unhappy with the
government schemes but the smoke screen and facades of development should be removed first
and foremost. There are laws but what about their implementation?" The fact remains that there
are over 20 crore dalits across the country, not inclusive of other faiths. More than 20% of them
do not have access to safe drinking water, 70% of these households have no electricity and 90%
have no sanitation. Rural dalit households are worse hit with about 78% households having no
electricity. (Times of India 15/4/05)