DALIT ATROCITIES - 2005 - Indian Social Institute

district magistrate Chaitnya Prasad. When contacted, Prasad confirmed the incident and said the
administration had taken effective steps to ensure that mid-day meal was distributed among the
school children in Gaya district without any problem. (Pioneer 23/5/2005)
JUNE 2005
Dalits demand return of land in Madurai (2)
Madurai, May 31: The Panchami Land Retrieval Committee, and the Society for Integrated
Rural Development (SIRD), Madurai have demanded that panchami lands should be restored to
the dalits, the rightful owners and that a special tahsildar should be appointed for each district to
look into the status of these lands. Speaking to reporters, Mr Ayyankalai, president of the
Panchami Land Retrieval Committee, said that 2.5 lakhs acres of land had been allotted to the
dalits by the British in 1892, to pave way for their social " and economic development. These
lands were later transferred to non-dalit usurers who allegedly tricked them into parting with the
land, by lending them money. This way more than 80 per cent of the land was transferred to nondalits,
he claimed. The department of land administration in a GO dated August 19, 1996 said
that all panchami lands that were with non-dalits should be retrieved and handed back to the
dalits, by the respective collectors. The order specified that the land should be handed back to
the original owners or their families. But, now he alleged most of these lands had been handed
over to private parties by illegal ways. (Asian Age 1/6/05)
Not pro-Dalit, BSP open to upper castes: Maya (2)
LUCKNOW, JUNE 9: Mayawati today threw open the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) doors to
Brahmins and other upper castes, promising Cabinet berths to all those who win elections.
Dismissing the party's ''pro-Dalit'' image as a canard spread by the Opposition, the BSP chief
extended an open offer of tickets to the upper castes in the Assembly and parliamentary
elections. ''The votebanks of the Congress and the BJP have been shattered and only the BSP
can outseat the Mulayam government in Uttar Pradesh,'' Mayawati told the Brahmin convention at
Ambedkar Maidan this afternoon. ''All those from upper castes coming to the party's fold and
winning their seats will be made ministers once the BSP gets an absolute majority.'' The mercury
touched 45 degrees Celsius today but crowds, in vermillion and ramnami dupattas, continued to
flock to the convention. ''Haathi nahi Ganesh hain, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hain (It's not elephant
(BSP symbol) but a combination of Hindu Gods)'', went the slogan as the BSP chief, for the first
time, addressed a Brahmin Sammelan. ''Jiski jitni tayyari, uski utni bhagidari (those who are
prepared will get a share),'' Mayawati said, stressing that the BSP was open to not only Brahmins
but all upper castes. ''Kewal Brahman nahin, balki Vaishya, Kshatriya, Tyagi aur Kayasth, sabhi
ka party mein swagat hai (The party is ready to welcome not only Brahmins but other upper
castes),'' she said while crowd responded with ''Brahman ki yahi pukar, Mayawati chauthi baar''.
''The opposition has painted the BSP with a pro-Dalit image while the fact is just the opposite,''
the former CM charged. ''The BSP was never against the upper castes and also Hinduism. The
opposition has spread this canard to get political mileage but not any more.'' Mayawati also dealt
a threat to CM Mulayam Singh Yadav. ''Shri Mulayam Singh Yadavji, let Assembly polls come
and I will reduce your party to the status of 1991 when the Samajwadi Party got only 30 seats out
of the total 425 that time (before creation of Uttaranchal),'' she said. (Indian Express 10/6/05)
Incentive hiked for inter-caste marriages (2)
Pioneer News Service/ Bhubaneswar : In a significant move to encourage inter-caste marriages
the State Government on Friday enhanced the reward amount from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 for
couples, people going in for inter-caste marriages. A decision to this effect was taken at a high
level meeting presided over by the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik. The move will encourage
inter-caste marriages and will redress caste-related problems in the society, official sources said.
Going by the law, if a boy from a higher caste gets married to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled
Tribe girl, the couple will get a reward of Rs 10,000. The same will hold good in case of a higher
caste girl marrying a boy from a lower caste. In another important development, the State
government decided to reserve 38 per cent of seats at Plus Two and Plus Three levels in all