DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

Man forces dalit boy to carry footwear on head (2)MADURAI: An upper caste man who reportedly forced a 12-year-old dalit boy to carry his footwear on hishead and paraded him in a village in the district last week. He was arrested at Dindigul railway stationtoday, police said. The boy was returning home from school in Vadukapatti village after checking hisannual exam results last Monday when the man caught him, forced him to carry the footwear on his headand paraded him. The boy complained to his mother, a widow, who took up the matter with the man andhis family, who refused to apologize, following which she filed a complaint with police. The man's fatherand brother were arrested yesterday, police said. (Times of India 9/6/13)NHRC seeks govt report on ‘atrocities’ on Dalits (2)Lucknow: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the Chief Secretary ofUttar Pradesh, seeking a report on the alleged atrocities on dalits in Lalitpur district in Bundelkhand.NHRC has asked its Director General (Investigation) to send a fact-finding team to Lalitpur to investigatethe allegations. A Varanasi-based NGO – People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights – had filed acomplaint on May 31, alleging that caste-based discrimination, sexual exploitation and untouchability iswidespread in Bundelkhand. The NGO's general secretary, Lenin Raghuvanshi, alleged in his complaintthat dalit villagers in Lalitpur are forced to hold their shoes in hand in front of the upper-caste Thakurcommunity. He further alleged that women of Valmiki community have to manually dispose of humanfaeces and carcasses of dead animals. The NHRC has sought a a report on the allegations within fourweeks. (Indian Express 10/6/13)Dalit boy was subjected to humiliation, says probe team (2)MADURAI: An official team from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), which visitedVadugapatti village in Madurai district, on Tuesday, to probe the discrimination meted out to dalits willsubmit a report to the government, urging for measures to be taken on it. Recently, a 12-year-old dalit boywas allegedly forced to carry footwear on his head and paraded in the village by a caste Hindu, forwalking with slippers on the common street. D Venkatesan, director of NCSC along with A Iniyan,investigator carried out a probe in the village and interacted with both the dalits and caste Hindus. Helater confirmed that the incident had indeed taken place and expressed concern over such incidents onthe rise in Tamil Nadu where dalits are discriminated by caste Hindus. Venkatesan said that it was aserious crime against the boy and the villagers were warned about the action against such discriminatingpractices under the law. The investigation report will be sent to the government for it to take necessaryaction to end the discrimination, he added. When the schools reopened on Monday, the boy P ArunKumar, who faced the humiliation of carrying the slippers on his head refused to attend, even though oneof his teachers tried to pacify him. It was also found that many dalit students attended school withoutfootwear fearing a backlash. Meanwhile, dalit students of the Government Kallar High School avoided themain pathway to the school and instead took a detour via agricultural fields and reached their institution.Even during the NCSC inspection, the dalits of the village demanded that the commission shouldrecommend creating a new pathway for them as well as access to the graveyard, which is separate fromthe caste Hindus. They also sought a separate community hall and sufficient police protection. Manydalits in the village alleged that prior to the meeting, the caste Hindus had warned them not to reveal orcomplain to the government officials or human rights group about the discrimination. Earlier in Madurai,the director inspected a government-aided school near South Gate after media reports surfaced aboutdalit students failing to get grant under the government scheme. The NCSC team questioned the schoolauthorities in this regard. (Times of India 12/6/13)Dalit discrimination takes different forms in Vadugapatti (2)MADURAI: Dalits can neither walk on the streets of caste Hindus with their footwear on nor can they entercommon pathways on bicycles. If they violated the rule they had to face the wrath of the dominant caste