DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

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computer's hard disk and claim that it was loaded by me," he said. About Kanwal's desktop, the RampurSP said it had been sent to Lucknow for forensic examination. (Times of India 12/8/13)'Dalits can't wear footwear in Salem prison' (2)SALEM: An outfit has claimed that the Dalits are being discriminated against inside the Salem CentralJail. The activists alleged that while Dalits were being denied entry into prison offices wearing footwear,prisoners from the non-Dalit intermediary castes were being pampered by the prison administration.Condemning the discrimination and demanding an official inquiry into the caste-based discrimination, theTamilaga Vazhakaringargal Manavar Kootamaippu conducted a protest demonstration here on Monday.According to Santhiyur Parthiban, state president of the outfit, in Salem Central Jail except non-Dalitprisoners, others, including minorities, were not allowed to wear foot wear inside the prison office.Prisoners of caste-based political party were better treated by the jail authorities, he said. He further toalleges that the Prison Vigilance Police, who should inform higher officials about such practices, wereturning a blind eye. He said, the police were tacit supporters of discrimination. He said denial of entry intoa government office amounted to contravention of the law that prohibits anyone being denied entry into agovernment office with footwear and he added that, Dalit prisoners were only being relegated to isolationcells in the jail. While the cells occupied by Dalit prisoners have no basic amenities like drinking water,non-Dalits were provided better care. Human rights violations abound inside the prison with Dalits beingforced to take up harsh work like cooking without being paid for it, he said. When contraband was seizedin the prisons, they were being charged, he alleged. In the name of checks, Dalit prisoners were strippedand often put in isolation cells and were subjected to mental torture, he added. Apart from prisoners, Dalitprison staff were also facing discrimination, he said, and added, recently a woman staff was transferredon the basis of false charges. While others can get whatever they want for money inside the prison, Dalitscannot even have a minute extra during visiting hours with their kin or friends. Salem PrisonSuperintendent, however, denied that Dalit prisoners were discriminated and said prisoners werepunished equally when they misbehave in the prison. He said, discrimination charges were being made tojustify their mistakes. He also denied charges that Dalit prisoners were not allowed to wear footwear inthe prison office. A Sipson, state convenor, Odukkapattor Vidudhalai Munnani, a special invitee to theprotest said, as a prisoner himself for years, he knew for sure that discrimination existed in prisons inTamil Nadu; Salem prison in particular being notorious for such practices. But, more than caste-baseddiscrimination, the Prison Manual is seldom followed, leading to a host of human rights violations againstprisoners, he said. Unless intermediary community officials in Salem Prison are transferred there wouldbe no real change in the state of affairs, he said. (New Indian Express 13/8/13)Doors of disputed Namakkal temple opens for Dalits amid tight security (2)NAMAKKAL: Several residents, mostly members of Scheduled Caste communities, of Oduvankurichivillage near Rasipuram in Namakkal district entered into the Kashi Viswanathar temple and offeredworship amid tight security on Tuesday. The temple, which was sealed on Thursday night followingtension after a group of caste-Hindus opposed the entry of Dalits into the shrine, was reopened onTuesday morning. “We removed the seal and opened the temple at 7.30 am. Members of SCcommunities entered the shrine and offered offered worship peacefully,” S Suryaprakash, Namakkal Sub-Collector (in charge), told Express. Heavy police security was posted around the temple as a group ofcaste-Hindus vehemently opposed the decision to allow Dalits into the temple, which was under thecontrol of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department. Top police officers,including Sanchay Kumar, DIG, Salem Range and SPs P Kannammal (Namakkal) and Sakthivel (Salem)camped at Oduvankurichi when the temple was opened for Dalits to offer worship on Tuesday, sourcessaid. However, caste-Hindu members belonging to seven different communities, strongly objected to theentry of Dalits and stayed away from visiting the temple on Tuesday. Officials expressed the hope that thesituation would become normal in a few days as a majority of the members of caste Hindu communities
had assured officials of cooperation for their move and noted that only a few were opposed to it. (NewIndian Express 15/8/13)Dalit killed, 40 hurt for unfurling tricolour in Bihar village (2)SASARAM: A dalit villager was stoned to death and at least 40 people were injured, eight of themseriously, as a 500-strong mob of upper caste men attacked them for defying their diktat of not to unfurlthe tricolour in front of a temple of Sant Ravidas at Baddi village in Rohtas district, 160km from Patna, onIndependence Day. The deceased was identified as Vilas Ram. The assailants did not spare evenschoolchildren as they attacked them with rods and later threw some of the children down from the roof ahouse, where they had taken shelter, while the policemen allegedly looked the other way. Most of theinjured are elderly, women and school-going children. The seriously injured were referred to PMCH inPatna. Reports reaching the district HQ here said tension had been brewing in the upper caste-dominatedvillage for the last 15 days after the upper caste villagers decided to install a statue of freedom fighterNishant Singh and unfurl the tricolour on the small plot at the entrance of the Ravidas temple, wheredalits had been unfurling the national flag, on August 15. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the localpolice convened a meeting of both the sides at the Baddi police station on Wednesday. But the standoffcontinued as the upper caste villagers allegedly stuck to their decision and the dalits refused to bowdown. As a result of the assault on Thursday, a woman's pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Severalhouses of dalits and the Ravidas temple were partially torched. In a swift reaction, Rohtas SP VikasBurman suspended Baddi police station SHO Balwan Singh on the charge of dereliction of duty. Burmansaid 11 of the 35 named accused were arrested and the police were in the process of procuring propertyattachment warrants against the remaining accused. On Friday, state industries minister Renu Devivisited the village at chief minister Nitish Kumar's behest. Principal secretary (home) Amir Subhani and IG(weaker sections) Arivind Pandey also visited the spot and the hospital where some of the injured werebeing treated. Subhani said the Rohtas DM had been directed to cancel the firearms licences of all theaccused named in the case. They would be put on speedy trial. The deceased will get a compensation ofRs 4.5 lakh and the injured Rs 60,000 each. Rohtas district JD(U) president and Karakat MLA RajeshwarRaj, on his return from Baddi, said the incident could have been averted had the administration takenprecautionary measures. Local leaders of BSP and CPI (New Democracy) burned the effigy of chiefminister in protest against the incident. (Times of India 17/8/13)Government refuses to share information on Thangadh dalit killings (2)RAJKOT: Despite directions from Gujarat Information Commission (GIC), the state government hasrefused to share its findings on Thangadhdalit killings in police firing in September last year. Three dalityouths were killed in the incident that had sparked statewide protest against the police action. The effortsmade by Right to Information (RTI) and dalit rights activist Kirit Rathod to get the report have been stonewalled by various departments. Rathod had sought various details under RTI from the social justicedepartment in January 2013. After the killings, the home department had set up a committee onSeptember 26, 2012, under the chairmanship of principal secretary, social justice and empowermentdepartment, Sanjay Prasad to investigate the killing of dalit youths in police firing in Thangadh town ofSurendranagar district. He was asked to submit the report within 30 days. "When I sought the reportunder RTI Act, the home department denied it and said it cannot be provided as the special branch of thedepartment is exempt from RTI Act. I simply can't understand how this report can be exempt?" Rathodsaid. Senior officials of the home department were not available for comments. Rathod had also soughtthe minutes of cabinet meetings, if any, on the issue. "It was revealed that there was no such cabinetlevel meeting," he said. He added that after the concerned department did not provide details withinstipulated time frame, he approached the GIC in this regard in June, 2013."GIC also asked the concerneddepartments in July to provide details but I am yet to receive them. I will have to approach GIC again,''Rathod said. It was after protests by human rights and dalit groups that a FIR was lodged against the
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DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013Janua
Page 3 and 4:
the bit-piece mythology behind the
Page 5 and 6:
worst brunt. Only a fraction these
Page 7 and 8: old girl was allegedly kicked by th
Page 9 and 10: charges. “The accused did not mak
Page 11 and 12: and exclude them from other facilit
Page 13 and 14: Meanwhile, Dalit activists held agi
Page 15 and 16: footing. It was Barla's first publi
Page 17 and 18: km from Majure viallge, were eking
Page 19 and 20: girl over picking up dung from a fi
Page 21 and 22: Debabrata Mohanty reportsUntil a mo
Page 23 and 24: Dalit forums push for law giving st
Page 25 and 26: heard the accused addressing each o
Page 27 and 28: employment generation itself is in
Page 29 and 30: implemented properly leaving a larg
Page 31 and 32: Pioneer that police had recorded th
Page 33 and 34: Mangalore: The issuance of notices
Page 35 and 36: order to compensate the loss caused
Page 37 and 38: gathered at the mini secretariat on
Page 39 and 40: villages across the state where thi
Page 41 and 42: declaration given by the victim, Ch
Page 43 and 44: Man forces dalit boy to carry footw
Page 45 and 46: The National Crime Records Bureau s
Page 47 and 48: United Progressive Alliance governm
Page 49 and 50: Kalam. The activists claimed that t
Page 51 and 52: the village on a horse," said a res
Page 53 and 54: Monday night for attacking the yout
Page 55 and 56: MADURAI: The Madras High Court benc
Page 57: the police to deal with any eventua
Page 61 and 62: known for his autobiographical nove
Page 63 and 64: the case of Nathpal Dhilwan, a dali
Page 65 and 66: about 25km from here, on Monday as
Page 67 and 68: caste marriages and waning prejudic
Page 69 and 70: against it. People accompanying the
Page 71 and 72: New Delhi: In Gujarat’s Mehsana d
Page 73 and 74: Rathod said. Organizers claim that
Page 75 and 76: provisions under the SC/ST Act in t
Page 77 and 78: Castes recently received complaints
Page 79 and 80: cancellation of the Dalit certifica
Page 81 and 82: Bihar: Dalit girl’s rape, murder
Page 83 and 84: New Delhi: With more than 626 milli
Page 85 and 86: fish around. Often, young Dalits wo
Page 87 and 88: (24), in May this year. Fearing ret
Page 89 and 90: Dinesh Parmar, who had attended the
Page 91 and 92: country in order to achieve their p
Page 93 and 94: said Bhardwaj, adding even then the
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