August 2019

24 August 2019
WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
PROTEST AND VIGIL FOR INDIAN
DEMOCRACY HUMAN RIGHTS
AND THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
WHY ARE WE
PROTESTING?
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party
under the leadership of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi came to
power the number of crimes against
Dalits has risen hugely. In 2016,
40801 atrocities against Dalits were
reported, an increase of more than
2000, over 2015 figures. The conviction
rate against those who commit
these crimes has also fallen substantially.
However these figures do
not give us the horrific nature of
these attacks. For example, in
October 2017, in Uttar Pradesh, a
Dalit woman and her unborn child
were killed when she accidentally
touched the bucket of an ‘uppercaste’
woman.
Since the election results were
declared on 23 May 2019, we have
seen a blatant projection of many of
the features of a Hindu state. Central
to this is the horrific heightening of
Hindutva violence against Muslims
and Dalits all over the country. For
example, immediately after the election,
the home of a Dalit couple was
attacked by a mob of 200-300 people
from dominant castes after the
husband had put up a Facebook post
1pm, Sunday, 18th
August 2019
Vigil at Parliament
Square, Westminster,
London SW1P 3BD
saying the government does not permit
the village temple to be used for
Dalit weddings.
Other attacks on Dalits, include
the institutional murder (as in the
Rohith Vemula case) of Dr Payal
Tadavi an Adavasi Muslim doctor
who was driven to her death by the
educational establishment , in this
case by casteist senior doctors in
Mumbai’s TN Topivala National
Medical College; the attack on the
Dalit boy who was tied up and beaten
up for trying to enter a temple in
Rajasthan; the hacking to death
of Ashok a young Dalit left activist
in Tamil Nadu; the killing, in
Gujarat, of 25 year old Haresh
Solanki, who was hacked to death in
front of his pregnant wife Urmilla
by 8 of his upper caste in-laws,
while officials watched; the attacks
on a lone Christian family in a
Thakur dominated area of Lucknow
who were forced to leave their
home. Most
recently in Uttar Pradesh’s
Sonbhadra district there was what
can only be described as a massacre
of Adivasis, with at least ten murdered
following a land dispute .
Meanwhile there have been innumerable
attacks on Ambedkar’s
statues, social boycotts and comments
such as those by Justice V
Chitambaresh, a sitting judge of the
Kerala High Court, proclaiming that
Brahmins must remain at the helm
of the country’s affairs.
At the same time Muslims have
been killed and attacked with inhuman
brutality with ‘Jai Shri Ram’
becoming a murder cry. Tabrez
Ansari, who was tied to a pole and
tortured for 18 hours and then locked
up in police custody, just for having a
Muslim name, is just one example.
There has also been a targeting of
journalists, eminent lawyers (including
Indira Jaising and Anand
Grover how have had a long history
of fighting for human rights and
civil liberties and founded the wellknown
Lawyers Collective) and
human rights activists. While this has
been going on for a considerable period
things have got worse since the
election. Criminal defamation
POLICE URGED
TO “THINK AGAIN”
OVER VILLAGE
STATION SELL-OFF
charges are being used indiscriminately,
Prashant Kanojia an independent
journalist, (himself a
Dalit)was arrested without an arrest
warrant and accused of defamation
for sharing a video of a woman who
claimed to be in love with Yogi
Adityanath, the viciously Hindu
supremacist Chief Minister of UP.
Kanojia was one of four journalists
arrested between June 6 and June 8.
While the earlier cases of violence
against and imprisonment of lawyers
and human rights defenders (such as
those involved with the Bhima
Koregaon case) are still being fought,
these are being joined by new incidents
of threats, raids and intimidation
of civil liberties activists.
Demolition of Shri Guru
Ravidass Mandir at Tuglakabad,
New Delhi
We condemn and protest against
the demolition drive of Delhi
Development Authority (DDA) to
demolish 15th Century Guru
Ravidass Mandir (Temple). Shri
Guru Ravidas was a 15th century
saint who challenged caste orthodoxy.
The Mandir complex has
archaeological and historical significance
and in addition the temple
has a deep spiritual significance to
the faithful of the Ravidassia community
who are traditionally considered
as 'Untouchable'. That the
DDA wants to demolish the ancient
site of the Temple demonstrates its
anti-Dalit policies.
Lynching of Dalits, Muslims
and Christians by RSS-led mobs,
assassinations of dissenters, rapes
and escalating violence against
women and girls, the arrests and
incarceration of human rights
defenders and progressive intellectuals
have turned India into a
republic of fear.
Organised by Castewatch UK
and South Asia Solidarity Group;
supported by Dr Ambedkar
Memorial Committee of Great
Britain, Shri Guru Ravidass
Mission International - Kanshi TV,
Ambedkarite and Indian Buddhist
Organisations in UK, Guru
Ravidass Sabhas in UK, Bhagwan
Valmik Sabhas in UK and many
Human Rights Organisations.
For further information
contact:
MR RAJ MANAK
07460 174843
MR KUNDAN L JHUMAT
07900 460260
@SAsiaSolidarity
@Castewatchuk,
info@castewatchuk.org
Conservative councillors
in Tettenhall are urging
West Midlands Police
to “think again” over its
plans to auction off the
police station building on
the High Street.
News emerged this
week that the police force
had put three of its former
police stations up for sale
in September. The
Tettenhall Police Station,
which is now closed, is
valued at a guide price of
£250,000.
But local councillors
have said they were told in
recent community policing meetings
that the force planned to keep hold
of the station in case it is needed in
future. There has been a recent spate
of anti-social behaviour in the village,
prompting a high visibility
police presence.
And with Prime Minister Boris
Johnson announcing an extra 20,000
police officers will be recruited
across the country over the next
three years, the councillors believe
keeping the station in police hands is
the most sensible option. Tettenhall
Wightwick councillor Wendy
Thompson said: “With the Prime
Minister’s welcome announcement
that he will be boosting police numbers,
it doesn’t make
any sense at all for
West Midlands Police
to be selling off
Tettenhall Police station.
They need to
think again about getting
rid of a building
that they might need
in future. “Although
the station is now
closed to the public,
there is a strong case
for maintaining a
base on the western
side
of
Wolverhampton.
We’ve recently had
some problems in the village with
anti-social behaviour which drew in
police resources from other areas, so
I think this decision to sell the building
could turn out to be short-sighted.”
The sale of Tettenhall Police station
is scheduled to take place on
September 10th.