DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

informed Taken Raj, District Superintendent of Police (DSP), but he refused to meet them. The Dalitsthen approached Kuldeep Singh, the SP of Kaithal, and got Sultan Singh arrested. They also deployed10-15 police personnel for the villagers’ protection. Despite that, nearly 200 families fled the village soonafterwards. But soon after, around 400 members of the Ror community attacked the Dalit basti. Theydamaged property and also looted cash and valuables. In the attack, six Dalits were also injured. Whenthe police tried to help the villagers, they too were attacked. The government announced compensation ofRs 1,20,000 per head for the seriously injured. The police has since arrested 24 of the 52 accused.Himanshu Kumar, a member of the fact-finding team, termed this incident as the culmination of the deeprootedcaste prejudice and hatred. He elaborated on the change in dynamics of the socio-economicrelationship between the communities since the Dalits are now relatively more empowered througheducation. He recalled an incident where a landlord belonging to the Ror community labeled some formerdaily wage workers as thugs and said that they did not have any right to continue living in the village. Thisbecause they found themselves better jobs away from the menial daily-wage work they previously did.The team consisted of Himanshu Kumar, Ratnesh Kumar, Utpala Shukla and Abirami, among others. Theteam recommended that the Ror community be penalised with being made to pay fines to create acollective fund which would be used to rebuild the houses of the Dalits and provide adequatecompensation for the loss of their property. The team also suggested that the Ror community be chargedwith Sec 16 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, and that all the accused be arrested. SwamiAgnivesh urged the government to encourage inter-caste marriages to break caste-based prejudices. Healso said he would organise an inter-caste marriage convention in Kurukshetra in a few months. RatneshKumar said that an environment of insecurity still prevails and women continue to live away from thevillage. (Tehelka 26/4/13)No discrimination against dalits: Sushil Kumar Modi (2)PATNA: The BJP on Friday said it does not discriminate between dalits and mahadalits and thegovernment's Rs 561 crore welfare schemes were for every section of dalit community. Bihar deputy CMSushil Kumar Modi said this while addressing a programme organized by the state BJP to commemoratethe memory of Baba Chauharmal, a religious and spiritual leader of Paswans and Dusadhs, at RabindraBhavan here. These two sections of dalits have been excluded from the purview of mahadalits. Modi saidhe had asked all the departments to reserve 16% of their budget for the welfare of dalits as theyconstituted 16% of the state's population. It may be recalled here that in his speeches, Bihar CM NitishKumar has been claiming his government has launched exclusive schemes for the development ofmahadalits. A separate Mahadalit Commission, too, has been set up in addition to the state scheduledcastes commission. Modi said, as finance minister he had provided scholarships to all dalit children, andthe scheme would benefit 40 lakh children, including mahadalits. Special schemes for skill development,education and healthcare of the entire dalit community, without any discrimination, have been launched,he said and claimed it was part of his scheme of inclusive growth. He said, "There will be nodiscrimination against the Paswans, who have been excluded from the list of mahadalits." He announcedcompensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the members of scheduled castes and tribes who get killed inclashes in villages. The SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act has been enforced effectively in Bihar, heclaimed. Former Union minister and chairman of the BJP's SC cell Sanjay Paswan, without naming theLok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, said Paswans should be wary of the "fake messiahs" oftheir caste who are interested in the welfare of their families only. Bihar NDA convener Nand KishoreYadav recalled that his party had fielded 10 members of the Paswan community in the last assemblypolls, of which nine romped home. No other party had given tickets to so many Paswan communitymembers, he said. (Times of India 27/4/13)‘Preventive’ notice against Dalits irks activists (2)