DALIT ATROCITIES - 2005 - Indian Social Institute

was demolished, if it wanted peace in the State. The BSP leader said the acceptability graph of
the party was on the rise in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Manehra said a massive organisational
overhaul was underway in the country and that the BSP was the party of not only the Dalits, but
even of the people from other sections of the society. (The Hindu 7.2.05)
Centre for Dalit, Minorities Studies opened (2)
NEW DELHI, FEB. 7. Describing caste as a major feature of Indian society and politics, the
former President, K.R. Narayanan, today remarked that in spite of a broadminded and liberated
society, the problems of caste and minority issues continue to hound the country even today.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia
here, the former President while narrating his personal experiences of dealing with caste
prejudice during his young days said: "We cannot understand India without understanding the
problems of Dalits and minorities." While welcoming the University's initiative in introducing the
course, Mr. Narayanan said it was strange how the subject had been neglected in recent times. "I
cannot understand how we neglected this social study for so long. The study of caste and
community has got postponed for rather long." Calling it the need of the hour, the Union Minister
of State for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja, said: "It is not that the
issues of politics and economy are less important or influential than those of caste and religion.
Instead the latter are the very forms in which the former are sought to be fought out and
resolved." (The Hindu 8.2.05)
Debate on reservation for Dalit Christians (2)
New Delhi, Feb. 11: Brushing aside the Centre's stand opposing court's intervention in matter
relating to inclusion of any particular community in the Scheduled Caste list, the Supreme Court
on Friday agreed to examine the legality of the sensitive issue raised in a petition demanding
reservation for dalits even after their conversion to Christianity. "It is a crucial issue and we would
examine the legal side of the issue on the basis of the rulings cited by the petitioner and the
attorney-general," a bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Justice G.P. Mathur said,
while adjourning the matter for four weeks. Opposing the petition filed by the Centre for Public
Interest Litigation on this issue, Attorney-General Milon Banerjee was curt and straight. "It is
matter of policy and legislation and the courts should keep out of it," he said even while citing his
correspondence with the government urging it to consider, the issue ''sympathetically." Mr
Banerjee said that the apex court itself had ruled that any amendment to the Presidential Order of
1950 regarding SCs or STs was within the purview of the legislative action. (Asian Age 12.2.05)
Massacre report in Assembly after 9 Yrs (2)
Jaipur, Feb. 15: The Rajasthan government tabled the report on the sensitive Kumher
massacre in the Assembly on Monday, 13 years after the incident. It was the Rajasthan's first and
worst Dalit carnage and claimed lives of over 15 people in Bharatpur district. After
ignoring demand of Dalit organisations, Rajasthan high court's directive forced to the BJP
government to table the report in the House. Justice K.S. Lodha had submitted his report
on August 1, 1996. Dalit rights activist P.L. Mimroth, chairman of Centre for Dalit Rights, had
filed a writ petition in the high court saying that the government had deliberately decided not to
make the report public. "I filed a contempt application when the, government was reluctant to
make public the report, my application is still pending," Mr Mimroth said. Thirteen years after
the incident, wounds of oppressed Dalits are still fresh. "Our people were roasted
by a mob in broad daylight and administration failed to protect us as we are victim of
discrimination," says Mr Mimroth. The government did not present the report in the
Assembly keeping in mind parliamentary elections, which were followed by municipal and
panchayat elections, he alleged. The incident occurred on June 6, 1992 in Kuhmer town of
Bharatpur where upper caste Hindus assembled in a panchayat and attacked Dalit localities in
which 15 Dalits were killed. (Asian Age 16.2.05)
Dalit woman alleges minister role in stripping (2)
JAIPUR, FEBRUARY 16: RAJASTHAN Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini is in the eye of a
storm over the alleged kidnapping and public stripping of a Dalit woman member of a panchayat