DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

The National Crime Records Bureau shows that in 2012, there were 33,655 cases of atrocitiesperpetrated on Dalits. This gives us an idea that on an average, every day 93 members of the Dalitcommunity were victims of one form of atrocity or the other. It is a shame that even after 66 years ofIndependence such a situation exists in the country, she remarked. The NCRB data suggests that1,10,000 cases of atrocities are pending in courts, but only 3.6 per cent have ended in conviction. Amongthe 35,655 cases sent to court, conviction in cases of atrocities on Dalits was a mere 23 per cent and in77 per cent of the cases, the perpetrators go scot-free. “It is a shame on the judiciary system and on theprocess of legal justice,” she said. “When the wall was demolished in Uthapuram, it was not just brick andmortar. The wall represented the edifice of discrimination and denial of minimal human dignity.” Earlierdenied rights like worshipping rights and access to common property resources have been won after along struggle. Still there were unfinished tasks like proper access to the common pathway that wascreated after the demolition of the wall. The Madras High Court ordered that full compensation be given toeach and every family that was affected in the police excesses. The order further said that districtmonitoring committees should be vigilant in maintaining peace and it is our duty to mount pressure on themonitoring committee to implement the court order fully, Ms. Karat pointed out. The 92- year-old veteranMarxist leader, R. Umanath, was present at the function in which a lot of Dalit women participated. (TheHindu 16/6/13)State bans book claiming Scheduled Caste as original rulers of Tamil land (2)MADURAI: A book written by an author belonging to the Pallar community, one of the Scheduled Castesin Tamil Nadu, claiming that Pallars are the original settlers of fertile river tracts in Tamil land, andsouthern Tamil Nadu’s rulers, has been banned by the State government. Written by K.Senthil Mallar, the624-page yet to be released book titled Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru (Resurgence of PandiyarHistory) is an attempt towards caste identity construction and antiquity that the Pallars were rulers ofTamil land but enslaved by invaders during the 17 century. The book (a copy of which is with The Hindu)contains photographs of inscriptions, scanned copies of documents, community certificates and otherrelated documents claiming that they are the descendants of Pandyas. The State government, in its banorder issued by Jatindra Nath Swain, Principal Secretary (Public) to the State government late last month,said that the presentation of the author carried demeaning description and disparaging remarks againstcertain communities. Moreover, the order said that the contents of the book had defamatory statementsand distorted history about leaders such as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and Kamaraj, besideshistorical figures — Azhagumuthu Kone and Veerapandiya Kattabomman — which were likely to causedisharmony, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill will between different communities. “The book under section95 (1) (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974), including its prints, copies,reprints, translation and such other documents containing extracts, be forfeited to the Government.” Theauthor of the book, Senthil Mallar, told The Hindu here on Sunday that he was yet to receive a copy of theorder. “The book was originally planned to be released in Sattur on April 25, 2013 but we suspended theevent following a ban by the Virudhunagar police department stating that it would trigger caste violence.Later, we planned to hold it in Madurai, but this ban [by the State government] was unexpected.” Theauthor contended that the government was trying to suppress the history of “original inhabitants” of Tamilland. “The ban is an effort to muzzle the re-construction of history by a caste which has a long historysince the Sangam Age. We will face it legally.” ..(The Hindu 18/6/13)Hike compensation to Rs 5L: Dalit forums (2)MANGALORE: Various factions of KarnatakaDalitSangharshSamiti (DSS) have demanded justice forthose who died in the compound wall collapse at Thottilaguri at Bajpe here on Tuesday. They havepromised to support the cause taken up by DSS (BhimaVaada) which has demanded a hike incompensation to the next of kin of victims and a probe into the incident. M Chandappa, district convenerof DSS (BhimaVaada), told reporters here 18 dalit families have been residing on around three acres of