Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 22.10.15
Crimes against Dalits rose 19% in 2014, murders rose to 744 - The Times Of India
Dalits' rise upper castes' envy in Haryana - The Times Of India
Conversion only way to tackle threat from upper caste people - Mail Today
Uthapuram tense as Dalits offer prayers in temple - The Hindu
Do the Vedas order killing of those who burn Dalits alive and force them to enter the gutters to perish? - Meri News
HYPERLINK "http://www.merinews.com/article/do-the-vedas-order-killing-of-those-who-burn-dalits-alive-and-force-them-to-enter-the-gutters-to-perish/15910634.shtml" http://www.merinews.com/article/do-the-vedas-order-killing-of-those-who-burn-dalits-alive-and-force-them-to-enter-the-gutters-to-perish/15910634.shtml
Please Watch:
Ambedkar Legacy Debate –
The Newshour Debate: Congress and RSS tug of war (13th April 2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr1-wyesydk
Note: Please find attachment for DMW Hindi (PDF)
The Times Of India
Crimes against Dalits rose 19% in 2014, murders rose to 744
Bharti Jain,TNN | Oct 22, 2015, 05.15 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Even as Haryana reels from the gruesome murders of two dalit children who were burned alive on Tuesday, allegedly by upper caste men, new statistics show that crimes against dalits, or Scheduled Castes (SCs), rose 19 percent last year, on top of a 17 percent increase in 2013.
In addition, as many as 744 dalits were murdered last year, up from 676 in 2013. In Haryana alone, 21 dalits were murdered in 2014.
According to statistics compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against SCs rose to 47,064 in 2014 from 39,408 in 2013. In 2012 there were 33,655 crimes against dalits, about the same as in 2011.
In fact, the rate of such crimes against SCs surpassed the national average in as many as 10 states in 2013 and 2014. The rate of crime is the number of crimes reported against SCs per one lakh of their population. In 2014, the rate of crime against dalits was 23.4 and in 2013 it was 19.57.
NCRB statistics show that 2,233 dalit women were raped in 2014, up from 2,073 in 2013, 1,576 in 2012, 1,557 in 2011, 1,349 in 2010 and 1,346 in 2009. Kidnappings and abductions also went up in these years, barring in 2012 when there was a marginal decline. Against 755 kidnappings/abductions in 2014, there were 628 in 2013, 490 in 2012, 616 in 2011, 511 in 2010 and 512 in 2009.
The Times Of India
Dalits' rise upper castes' envy in Haryana
Subodh Ghildiyal,TNN | Oct 22, 2015, 04.55 AM IST
NEW DELHI: In the wake of the grisly Faridabad killings, Dalit activists wondered if the pictures of two charred infants could shake the nation's conscience like the picture of drowned Aylan Kurdi on a Mediterranean beach moved the world on the plight of Syrian refugees.
It is unlikely. But the query too was overlaid with cynicism, reflecting the weariness of a community bearing the brunt of recurring atrocities. Sunped under BJP follows the shameful trend set by Mirchpur and Gohana under Congress.
In Mirchpur and Gohana, altercations between Jats and Dalits resulted in mobs razing down and burning Dalit houses, medieval style. No one died in Gohana but 50 houses were torched by a 1,000-strong mob. But Mirchpur saw a lynch mob set on fire a handicapped girl and her grandfather in their house, like Faridabad. In Sunped, Rajputs settled scores with Dalits.
At the root of the brutal crimes is the newfound independence of Dalits and a questioning of the status quo. Observers say the brutal retribution inflicted by the upper castes is aimed to deliver a strong reminder to Dalits on who dominates socially.
Karamvir Baudh, an activist in Haryana, said, "Jobs and small businesses are a growing trend among SCs. Cars and good houses in their neighbourhoods are visible. They refuse to work in landlords' fields. It is enough of a provocation."
If the fault lines existed for ages, its incendiary eruption in medieval lynchings and immolations in the last decade results from fearless assertion by Dalits riding on job reservations and market economy.
"The dominant peasant proprietors who were used to having their way are unable to take the resistance from Dalits. That is leading to brutality," said Yogendra Yadav, a sociologist with roots in Haryana.
The questioning of status quo is the trigger. And the oppressor changes with the turf, it could be Jats in Rohtak, Yadavs in Mahendragarh, Rajputs and OBC Rors in Yamunanagar.
Dr Gulshan, who heads the Ambedkar missionaries society in Rohtak, recounted how every atrocity was accompanied by the incredulous "ek SC ne aisa kar diya" — it could refer to refusal to work in landlords' fields or challenging the harassment of a Dalit girl. "In a wrestling game, the taunt is that you lost to a Dalit boy," he said, talking about provocation.
Sexual assault of Dalits has emerged as a new weapon to assert domination. Haryana, according to the NCRB, ranks seventh in assaults on SC women, fourth in sexual harassment, sixth in rapes.
Mail Today
Conversion only way to tackle threat from upper caste people
Ajay Kumar | | Mail Today | Faridabad, October 21, 2015 | Posted by Dianne Nongrum | UPDATED 09:26 IST
Following the attack on a Dalit family in Faridabad, the lower caste community feel they would be safer from the upper caste if they converted to Islam.
A woman police officer in plain clothes inspects the house which was set on fire.
The arson in Sunped village of Faridabad has created fear among people, especially the lower caste community, in the adjoining villages. Due to the continuous threat posed by upper castes, a section of people from the lower caste have expressed their desire to convert to Islam.
"The upper caste people used to humiliate us over petty incidents like pulling out a mobile phone from the drain. They would often threaten and dishonour us and also the women from our community. We do not feel secure as the current government has failed to protect our pride. We have no other option than to convert to Islam," said Rohtash, a villager.
"At least we know few leaders who represent the minority community. There is no leader for the lower caste here," Rohtash added.
Villagers have demanded that Faridabad police commissioner Subhash Yadav be sacked as he has failed to control the law and order situation.
"The district police and local administration have ignored us and our complaints," alleged another villager Ramesh Kumar.
In adjoining Asawati village, a teenage girl was abducted by an upper caste youth and was later found unconscious in UP's Bulandshahr district. Despite a complaint of sexual assault at the Ballabhgarh police station, cops dismissed the matter saying that the girl had eloped with her boyfriend.
"One of the reasons behind the police apathy is the majority of the upper caste people. Sunped village has a population of 1,400 with 75 per cent belonging to the upper caste community. They have strong political connections with local leaders," said another villager Sunil Kumar.
The Hindu
Uthapuram tense as Dalits offer prayers in temple
Tension gripped Uthapuram when a garland offered by the Dalits to a pipal tree at the Muthalamman temple was pulled down by caste Hindus on Wednesday. A huge posse of police has been deployed in the village near Usilampatti as a precautionary measure.
The Dalits preferred a police complaint against the caste Hindus for practising untouchability.
The district administration had reversed its prohibitory order on celebration of the Muthalamman festival organised by the caste Hindus on Tuesday night after they pleaded for permission and agreed to allow the Dalits to offer worship at the temple.
"We had given the orders on the condition that the rights of the Dalits to worship at the temple should be upheld," Usilampatti Revenue Divisional Officer M. Balasubramanian, said.
After permission was given, an earthen idol of Muthalamman was brought in procession from Elumalai on Tuesday night. In the morning, the caste Hindu devotees brought 'mulaippari' and offered prayers.
Later, some 40 Dalits led by C. Sankaralingam and Ponnaiah, came to the temple and worshipped the deity. Deeparathana and puja were performed by the priest amidst the 'kulavai' raised by the women devotees.
Just as they were coming out, the Dalits put two garlands on the pipal tree on the temple premises and offered their prayers. Suddenly, over a dozen of caste Hindus present at the temple objected to it.
Even as both sides started arguing over the issue and the police tried to pacify them, an unidentified person pulled down one of the two garlands and threw it on the ground.
This angered the Dalits, including women, who squatted on the Elumalai Road. However, a large posse of police managed to remove them and took them to their hamlet. Meanwhile, the police restored the garland on the Pipal tree.
While the caste Hindus demanded that the garlands be removed from the tree, Superintendent of Police Vijayendra Bidari said he could not allow any such thing and warned that those who tried to remove them would be arrested.
Later, the earthen idol and the sprouts were taken in procession and immersed in a nearby water body amidst police security. However, Dalit leader Sankaralingam said R. Muniyandi lodged a complaint with the police against caste Hindus for pulling down the garland put by them at the pipal tree.
Five vehicles set on fire
Meanwhile, people of two different groups from Elumalai and nearby Athankaraipatti clashed while completing the Muthalamman festival ritual of breaking the earthen idols near Elumalai on Wednesday evening. The police said five motorbikes and a cargo vehicle were set on fire.
The problem started when a chappal was thrown from the crowd from one group at another. It led to a clash following which the police chased them away. Even as the crowd was melting, unidentified persons set on fire the vehicles.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Anand Kumar Somani and the Superintendent of Police, Vijayendra Bidari, rushed to the spot.
Meri News
the Vedas order killing of those who burn Dalits alive and
force them to enter the gutters to perish?
HYPERLINK "http://www.merinews.com/article/do-the-vedas-order-killing-of-those-who-burn-dalits-alive-and-force-them-to-enter-the-gutters-to-perish/15910634.shtml" http://www.merinews.com/article/do-the-vedas-order-killing-of-those-who-burn-dalits-alive-and-force-them-to-enter-the-gutters-to-perish/15910634.shtml
The death of two conservancy workers owing to asphyxiation last week when they were cleaning (rather forced to clean) an underground drainage at a housing colony in TN's Madurai was reported by the Hindu on Oct 21, 2015.
In a similar incident occurred in 2009, a contract worker of the City Corporation died while removing blockage with two others without wearing protective gear. Another worker succumbed at a hospital two days later. Needless to say they were all Dalits.
Though there has been a ban on manual scavenging under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and the earlier Act brought into the statute in 1993, there is little or no monitoring to prevent the practice and the consequent deaths.
In Focus
The corporations and municipalities across India have on rolls tens of thousands of contract workers who are required to remove blocks in the underground drainage system by entering into the drains through manholes. It is not uncommon to see conservancy workers unclogging manholes with sticks and rods without wearing shoes, gloves or masks.
A conservancy worker admitted that they never receive these protective gears from their contractors. Many of the contractors either do not know about such protective gears or chose not to give them. This being the case for conservancy workers, their counterparts who clear dust and debris off roads also work without masks or gloves.
Since the workers are engaged by the contractors, the municipal bodies do not take manual scavenging seriously. It is the duty of the municipal authorities to step in and ensure that manual scavenging is not practised and the workers wear the protective gears and use machinery. In many cases, families of the deceased workers do not get compensation for the loss of the breadwinner.
It is not surprising that a Madurai Corporation official says that many workers do not wear the protective gear issued to them. If a worker dies in a factory for want of wearing necessary protective gear, can the factory owner plead not guilty because the worker failed to wear the gear though provided? Will the administration, police and court admit such a plea and let the factory owner off?
Will the officer offer such an irresponsible response if his kith and kin are the conservancy workers? The administration must book the officers concerned in case of such deaths under the SC/ST Atrocity Act and treat the deaths as murders. If such proactive steps are taken, the killing of Dalits in gutters will vanish overnight. The crime committed by a law enforcer is much more serious than the one committed by an ordinary citizen. Not a single public servant is punished for such killings in all these years.
Dalit family set afire
According to the media reports, a Dalit family of four, including two children, was set afire inside their house allegedly by members of the Rajput community in Sonped village in Ballabgarh, Faridabaddistrict (Haryana), in the early hours ofTuesday.
While Vaibhav (2 years) and Divya (10 months) died before reaching the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, their mother Rekha (22) admitted to the ICU with serious burns died later. Rekha's husband, Jitender (26), a medical attendant at a hospital, escaped with minor burns on his hands.
The attack on the Dalit family has its history in the murder of three persons of the Rajput community on Oct 5, 2014 following an altercation over a mobile phone. Eleven members of Jitender's family were named in the case and are currently in jail. Two weeks ago, the accused had allegedly threatened Jitender's family with dire consequences if they did not leave the village.
The police have booked 11 persons in the case and arrested three so far. "A case has been registered under the IPC and the SC & ST Act against 11 persons and three have been arrested," said a police official reportedly.
This case will also follow the course of similar cases (Mass Dalit burning at Keezhavenmani village in TN's Thanjavur district in 1968, the massacre of Dalits by the landlord-controlled Ranvir Sena in the late 1990s in Bihar and the rape and murder of Priyanka Bhotmange and her mother at Kheirlanji in Maharashtra's Bhandara district in 2006), thanks to the obliging upper caste-friendly administration and court. Please note Haryana is now being ruled by a super Khap after another equally notorious Khap was booted out in the last election.
Vedas order killing of sinners who kill cows
A recent article in the RSS organ Panchjanya said, "The Vedas order killing of anyone who slaughters the cow. Cow slaughter is a big issue for the Hindu community. For many of us it's a question of life and death." The piece written by Vinay Krishna Chaturvedi adds, "But what should one say about those people and their leaders who, while living among 80 per cent Hindus, have no concerns for the majority sentiment."
The Dalits burnt to death or murdered inside the gutters were also Hindus. Even the converted ones were earlier in the Hinduism. Chaturvedi, RSS and BJP are also living among 80 per cent Hindus. Why they have no concern for these Hindus?
Chaturvedi must tell us whether there is any provision in the Vedas that orders killing of anyone who slaughters the Dalits either by burning them alive or killing them inside the gutters. If there is no such provision, is it not time for Chaturvedi and his patrons in the RSS to rewrite Vedas incorporating similar provision that mandates killing of the butchers of Dalits?
Chaturvediji, please note the society "glorifies and remembers" such persons "martyred to prevent Hindu-slaughter."
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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