[ZESTCaste] India's Untouchables Find Their Tongue
http://www.swans.com/library/art16/pbyrne128.html India's Untouchables Find Their Tongue by Peter Byrne "I am a venereal sore in the private part of language." —Namdeo Dhasal, poet and founder of the Dalit Panthers (Swans - June 14, 2010) India's Untouchables regularly splash across the Western glossies for a quick exposé between ads for exotic cruises and gourmet coffee. This was the case of Italy's Il Venerdi in May. The piece had all the requisites. It was about brutalized women who got together not only for self defense, but in order to fight back. They even armed themselves with bamboo lathi, a cruel weapon favored by the Indian police. To finish the picture -- and what photographs it made! -- they wore luminous magenta saris and called their vigilante group the Pink Gang. The sensational details could only please readers, and the article also served as a puff for the autobiography of the Pink Gang's founder, which was being published in Italy the following week. Ms. Sampat Pal came from Uttar Pradesh, defined by the magazine as "one of the poorest areas in the world." Since we were obviously in for another misery memoir, why was I already planning a trip to the bookstore? A cloudlet of self-scrutiny wafted over me. I'd long since sworn off the wounded-psyche sob stories that have filled The New York Times bestseller lists for decades. I couldn't take any more poor little rich girls who finished in rehab because their father flew the coop or their mother sent them off to kindergarten without a hug. I had no curiosity for noble males who dawdled atremble on the threshold of the closet for half a century, even when they came clean posthumously. We have only so much empathy, and like the wind it goes its own way. Along with Il Venerdi I invested mine faraway where life was so hard it made me wince back home in the easeful West. Sampat Pal's burdens were many. She was female, poor beyond measure, and resident in a desert region governed by corrupt officials and sadistic police. Illiterate, married at twelve, and pregnant at puberty, she was, in the bargain, an Untouchable, a member of a low herdsmen's caste. Her story reminds us that Indian casteism has never gone away. Mohandas Gandhi, national independence, Jawaharlal Nehru's noble profile, rapprochement with the Soviet Union, wars against China and Pakistan, the free market, and finally globalization have all failed to eradicate a system at the heart of Hinduism for two thousand years. To put it crudely, back before time was reckoned, Brahmins concocted a social hierarchy from texts that they declared sacred. It placed them above the rest of the human race, in a space free of physical and mental pollution. The task of the less than human lower castes was, simply, to do the dirty work, which then confirmed their polluted and untouchable status. The result differed from an apartheid setup in that the lower castes were fully integrated into the Brahmin world view. They were a necessary "other," like domestic animals, but with the difference that domestic animals were not considered soiled beyond remedy from birth. It would be easy to horrify the reader by listing what has been inflicted over centuries on the lower castes. There are men alive who remember when some were forced to walk with brooms tied to their backs. This was to clean the path that they had defiled by walking on. Times change, but in India not all that quickly. Governments have tried to mitigate the caste system by law. Programs have been set up to aid the lower castes. Education has awakened some of the oppressed to defend themselves and, like the Pink Gang, to fight back. But, if mainstream Indian writers are to be trusted, caste oppression remains an everyday reality. The excellent novelist Aravind Adiga in his Between the Assassinations (2008) tells the story of Jayamma, a cook who being unmarried is exploited by her Brahmin family as well as by the Brahmin lawyer who employs her. Yet she scrupulously marks herself off from the equally exploited lower caste child servant of the household. The cook's conduct points to what has been a dilemma for Indian Marxists. The remarkable Marathi thinker B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) wrestled with it for a lifetime. For him a mere class analysis could not explain the Indian predicament. The Marxist parties, invariably dominated by Brahmins, could never uproot a caste hierarchy that was part of their DNA and predated anything we would recognize as class conflict. Again, Indian fiction can throw light on the problem. Arundati Roy, in her novel, The God of Small Things (1997), tells how an upper-lower caste love affair ends in racist murder. But she also tells how an upper caste Communist Party official manipulates a lower caste member without ever accepting him as an equal. Born an Untouchable, Ambedkar would become an important political and intellectual figure in India and the scourge of orthodox Hinduism. He would differ with Gandhi w
[ZESTCaste] UP varsity may be exempt from giving quota to OBCs
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/UP-varsity-may-be-exempt-from-giving-quota-to-OBCs/articleshow/6044790.cms UP varsity may be exempt from giving quota to OBCs Akshaya Mukul, TNN, Jun 14, 2010, 02.16am IST NEW DELHI: In a move that could stir OBC politics in the Hindi heartland, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) in Lucknow, a central university, is being exempted from giving reservation to OBCs in admission. Till now, BBAU has not been giving reservation to OBCs as SC/ST quota already meets the upper limit of 50%. For long, denial of reservation to OBCs has been a issue in BBAU. Exemption from OBC reservation to BBAU and other kinds of exemptions — all related to quota — to central educational institutions in the north-east states are part of the series of amendments proposed in the Central Educational Institutions (reservation in admission) Amendment Act. The amendment proposal does not mention BBAU but most of the exemptions, sources said, were specific to one institution or the other. For instance, the amendment seeks to bring down OBC reservation to less than 27% in states like Tripura and Sikkim where SC/ST reservation is around 34%. Here, reservation for OBCs will be only 16%. There is also a proposal to apply reservation policy of the state government to state seats in a central educational institution. Last year, a peculiar situation had arisen in National Institute of Technology, Agartala and HRD ministry had to protect state reservation through a presidential order. The amendment defines "north-east" to cover all north-eastern states including Sikkim but excludes the non-tribal areas of Assam. This has been done since two central universities — Tezpur University and Assam University — are in non-tribal areas and will be able to implement 27% OBC reservation. The amendment also seeks to extend the period of implementing reservation from three years to six years. Now, all central educational institutions and universities will have time till 2012. This has been done so that universities like Jamia Milia Islamia can implement OBC reservation. For the last three years, JMI has been defying HRD ministry on reservation. With concerted attempt to give it a tag of minority institution, it is unlikely that reservation in JMI will become a reality soon. The amendment also proposes to increase the number of seats in unpopular branches of study or faculty. The proposal says increase will be with reference to the number of seats in that subject in the year OBC reservation came into force or the number of seats actually filled, whichever is less. INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ZESTCaste] High cut-offs in SC/ST category
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/High-cut-offs-in-SC-ST-category/Article1-557350.aspx High cut-offs in SC/ST category HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, June 14, 2010 Though the cut-off list of St. Stephen's college shows a drop in percentages of various subjects for the general category this year, the cut-offs for students of SC/ST category has gone up by as high as 16 per cent. For example, the minimum marks required to appear for the interview by a SC/ST candidate applying for Physics (H) was 74.3 per cent last year, as compared to 90.3 per cent this year. "The increase in SC/ST category cut-offs is to ensure that the merit standard is maintained," said Nandita Narian, admission in-charge of the college.
[ZESTCaste] Caste in Census: Hypocrites all!
http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=27718§ionid=39 Caste in Census: Hypocrites all! Monday, June 14, 2010 P N V NAIR We can tell a person’s caste from his name. Upper caste Hindus mostly use the caste as their surname. As long as this practice continues, people will be known by their caste name and not their first name. This writer, for example, is known as Mr Nair among friends and colleagues, though my first name is Viswanathan. Years ago when I was with the Indian Express, someone from my village came to Bombay and called up the office asking for Viswanathan. The telephone operator told him that there was no one in the office by that name. This applies to most Indians, they go by the surname Reddy, Rao, Iyer, Iyengar, Mehta, Shah, Desai, Sardesai, Chakravarty, Choudhary, Chaturvedi, Goswami, Nair, Menon, Pillai and so on. It gives them an identity and they are proud of their caste, too. When it comes to a debate on the abolition of caste, all are hypocrites. Most columnists and news channel Editors vehemently argue against reintroducing caste in Census. But those who abhor the caste system do not want to drop their caste-based surname first to prove their genuine concern. Even Gandhiji did not do it though he had championed the cause of the Harijans and the downtrodden. Caste makes a person inferior or superior, caste determines an individual’s place in society, the work he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. A person is enabled or disabled at birth and one cannot change his low birth though he can change his destinies through education and hard work. But the fact remains, a Nair’s son becomes a Nair and a Dalit’s son inherits his father’s caste. A controversy has erupted over the inclusion of caste in the 2011 Census, after a long gap of 60 years. The colonial practice of caste-based headcount was discontinued after independence. All government records, registers and application forms also deleted the column of caste. One of the major objectives of Independent India was to remove the disabilities arising out of this social malady. But then, did the caste system disappear? On the contrary there are violent agitations for more reservations based on caste. More and more communities are fighting for their inclusion under lower castes and backward classes in order to enjoy the benefits of reservation. With the result, some states like Tamil Nadu has 70 per cent reservation though the Supreme Court has limited this to 50 per cent. The Census, first conducted in 1881 by the British, collected caste-wise data until 1931. While the Census continues to count scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, OBCs have not been enumerated for 80 years. Parties with strong OBC constituencies argue that this leads to wrong data on their numbers and consequently affects their entitlement. The Census over the years provides vital information on population and its relative characteristics in terms of sex, age groups, economic activity, occupation, literacy, language, religion, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and a host of demographic features. Though India’s Constitution has sought to abolish caste discrimination and the practice of untouchability, the caste system is still widespread and remains deeply rooted in the society, especially in rural India. A Dalit’s shadow was believed to pollute the upper classes. They may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by upper classes, drink water from public wells, or visit the same temples visited by the higher castes. Dalit children were often made to sit in the back rows in classrooms! Things are changing, but the lower castes are not treated on par with the upper class even now. In my village there is a Bhagwati temple. Even today, only people belonging to the Nair community worship in the temple. There is no bar on others, but their inferior complex dissuades them from entering the temple. This applies to most of the temples in Kerala. The caste system is not restricted to Hinduism alone. It is prevalent among Christians and Muslims as well. Christians in Kerala are divided into several sects, the main sects being Syrian Christians, Latin Christians, Protestants, Jacobites, Marthomites, CSI (Church of South India), etc. Syrian Christians consider themselves superior to others. They were believed to be converted from Brahmins, other upper castes and Jews by St Thomas, while Latin Christians were converted mainly from lower castes where fishing was the traditional occupation. Latin converts were poor and deprived. So the Government of India gave them the social benefit of OBC status. Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala was much more polarised than the Hindu practices. They would not enter into marriage alliances without the permission of their respective church authorities. In Goa, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries. The Hi
[ZESTCaste] Attacks on Dalits rising: CPI(M)
http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/11/stories/2010061162910500.htm Karnataka - Bangalore Attacks on Dalits rising: CPI(M) Staff Reporter VENTING THEIR IRE: Members of the CPI(M) staging a protest in support of Dalit rights in Bangalore on Thursday. BANGALORE: Atrocities against Dalits in the State have risen in the last two years and the Government is doing nothing about it, alleged Maruti Manpade, State Committee member, Communist Party of India (Marxist). Speaking at a protest march organised here on Thursday, he accused the State Government of discriminating against the Dalits. “Problems like discrimination on the basis of caste in hotels, maths, increasing incidence of AIDS among devdasis and low wages for daily workers exist but the Government is not doing anything to solve them,” he said. Accusing the Government of introducing policies which were against the interests of the Dalits, the protesters demanded the repealing of the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2010, as red meat formed the basic diet of the Dalits. K. Varadarajan, polit bureau member, said even after 60 years of Independence, everyone was not treated equally, especially in States like Karnataka. “In more than 50 villages in the State, social boycott or untouchability is practised and action has not been taken by the authorities. In today's India, democracy is decided by caste or money,” he added. The march, originally planned to start at the City Railway Station and end at the Chief Minister's residence, was cut short as Minister for Social Welfare Sudhakar Rao visited them at Freedom Park. The Minister was presented with a letter to the Chief Minister urging him to look into the living conditions of Dalits. INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ZESTCaste] Dr. Ambedkar statue desecrated, tension in TN village
http://www.ummid.com/news/2010/June/14.06.2010/ambedkar_statue_desecrated.htm Dr. Ambedkar statue desecrated, tension in TN village Monday, June 14, 2010 12:11:18 PM, UNI Cuddalore: Tension prevailed at Kuyavanpettai village near Chidambaram in this district of Tamil Nadu following desecration of the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar, this morning. Locals, who came out of their house at around 0500 hrs, found that the bust of Dr Ambedkar, mounted on a two ft high pedestal, was found desecrated and informed the Annamalainagar police, who acted swiftly and removed it. As the news spread about 150 to 200 people, including local villagers and activists of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) resorted to a snap road roko agitation, demanding action against the culprits involved in the incident. Tension prevailed in the area for nearly an hour. Senior Police officials and Revenue officials held talks with the agitators, pacified them and promised that culprits would be nabbed soon. After a garland of flowers was put on the Statue by the police officials, the crowd dispersed. Traffic in the area was affected putting school goers and office goers to a lot of hardship.
[ZESTCaste] BJP having reservations on support to caste census?
http://www.ptinews.com/news/710703_BJP-having-reservations-on-support-to-caste-census- BJP having reservations on support to caste census? STAFF WRITER 15:14 HRS IST Sunil Gatade Patna, June 12 (PTI) With internal differences persisting and RSS taking a strong line against it, BJP today appeared to be having reservations on its support to inclusion of caste in census. "We believe in a strong nation. We have put forth our view in Parliament...Why you are asking us when the stand of the central government is itself not clear," party general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. Answering a volley of questions seeking clarity on the party's stand on the ticklish issue, Prasad's refrain was, "we believe in a strong nation. We have put forth our view in Parliament". He was briefing reporters on the presidential address of party chief Nitin Gadkari to the BJP National Executive which began here.
[ZESTCaste] Interview conducted in Panjab University Chandigarh for SC teaching post
Dear All, In the response to advertisement No. 6/2009, I have applied for the post of Lecturer in Physical Environment-1 (Reserved for SC Category) in the Department of Environment & Vocational Studies, Panjab University , Chandigarh . Further with reference to their interview letter vide No. EST/10/2535 dated 19/03/2010 , I appeared in the interview on 02/04/2010 at 4:30 PM in the office of Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University , Chandigarh . As per condition of the interview letter, I was asked by experts to give presentation in the office of V.C. After completion of presentation, Experts seems to be much satisfied with my research activities and qualification. VC from His chair asked me, "Have you brought NOC". I told that I have applied for it to my Private Deemed University but they refused to provide the same. Interrupting me to say anything VC said with anger, "How did you appear for interview? .you are not suitable for interview ..without NOC how did you come?" One expert said sir, let we interview him first. V.C., "OK .OK" One expert asked me, "Why you studied POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHs) from incineration of waste?" I answered PAHs are of special environmental concern. US Environmental Protection Agency has declared 16 PAHs as priority pollutants. Moreover many PAHs have been declared as probable and possible carcinogenic by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). I told that I have submitted two research projects, one to AICTE entitled, "Oral Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons" and another to CSIR entitled, "Toxic Environmental Releases From Medical Waste Incinerators" for funding. Presently, I am guiding two M.Sc. students and 1 Ph.D. student. Then VC rush toward the seat where expert committee was sitting and said to me in hindi, "Tu bahut environmentalist banta hai? Ye bata abhi abhi globle warming per controvercy chali thi; wo kya thi?" I just started to speak, whether carbon dioxide .is actually responsible for global warming or not? (but even word carbon he did not let me to say anything). Then he asked, "Who is the Indian environmentalist who have received Noble prize". I said, sorry! Right now I am not able re member his name. VC said with anger in Punjabi, "Chhal bhajj ! bhajj bhajj ja bhajj ja ..(means you just get lost fast)" by pointing his fingers towards the door. I left the room but I was shocked. Having PhD degree (with international publications) from reputed Deemed University, NET (LS) CSIR UGC, HP SLET, GATE and more than two year teaching experience.. the person is treated like animal in interview, just to degrade SC candidate or to show that I was nothing in front of world owners (Upper caste people). I request you all, kindly to enquire the following: 1. Why an interview Letter No. EST/10/1552/Estt. I dated 25/02/2010 was issued in which date of interview was mentioned to be 20/11/2009? After consulting University authorities a new interview letter was issued on 26/02/2010 (Letter No. EST/10/1706/Estt. I) in which date is mentioned to be 03/03/2010 at 9:30AM. 2. When I reached at University on said date and time, It was said to me that interview has been postponed. Why I was not intimated for that? [However, modified letter for interview was issued on 26/02/2010 (Friday). There were holidays for 27/02/2010-Saturday, 28/02/2010-Sunday and 01/03/2010-Monday (for Holi)]. Why interview was cancelled on spot (02/03/2010) and Why the candidate who's corresponding address was of same city in which University is situated was not intimated for postponing the date of interview? 3. Further, afresh interview letter was issued on 19/03/2010 for interview to be conducted on 02/04/2010 at 4:30PM. 4. Why I was mentally tortured by using abusing language by VC? 5. For reserved post, Why every year interview is conducted but seats are not filled? Is it for money making? 6. Why every year, It is said to UGC, "Not found Suitable." 7. For a reserved post of Lecturer for SC, what can be more qualification than Ph.D.? Is in India education system has fallen upto such a extent that suitability of a candidate (for a post of lecturer) can not be predicted on the basis of having PhD degree, CSIR-UGC NET (LS), HP SLET, GATE and Teaching experience of more than 2 years at university level? But such a candidate is insulted in interview. 8. Why private colleges/ Universities do not issue NOC (No Objection Certificate) but ask to resign? 9. Why NOC is required from private employer, if candidate do not want to take any benefit of his experience from last employer in the case when private authorities do not issue NOC? Please find enclosed my Latest CV as proof of qualification and copy misleading interview letters. I have also made many requests through e-mail from April, 2010 regarding my grievance. Kindly look into the ma
[ZESTCaste] Regularise daily wage jobs, KPTCL told
http://expressbuzz.com/states/karnataka/regularise-daily-wagers-scst-panel-tells-kptcl/180951.html Regularise daily wage jobs, KPTCL told Express News ServiceFirst Published : 12 Jun 2010 04:32:53 AM ISTLast Updated : 12 Jun 2010 10:53:18 AM IST BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has ordered the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) to regularise the jobs of 840 daily wage employees and hand them permanent posts. The order issued on Friday by the commission’s chairman Nehru C Olekar, added that of the 840 employees (64 per cent of whom are SC/STs, and the rest belong to backward classes), the ones below 47 years of age should immediately be given permanent posts and also hike the salaries of those above 47 years of age. Representing the employees, advocate Rupesh said that for the last 30 years, these employees have been carrying out jobs of sweeper, attendant and sometimes also doubling up as linemen. Before 1998, these people were drawing a salary of Rs 3,100, but after 1998, it has been reduced to 2,600, he added. He also said that most were temporary employees, however, they ended up doing more than their expected share of work. Since they are working on a temporary basis, the higher officers take them for granted, he added. Rupesh said that in November 2007, KPTCL had constituted a committee to look into the state of the daily wage employees, and in July 2008, it had recommended permanent jobs for people below the age of 47 years and to increase the salary of those above 47 years of age. However, no such thing has happened, he said. Defending KPTCL, additional chief secretary, Energy Department, K Jairaj said that although their committee had given recommendations, they could not implement them as there was a Supreme Court order in the case of State of Karnataka vs Uma Devi. The SC order categorically states that public employment will be affected if the suggestion (regularising jobs of daily wage employees, hiking their salaries) is implemented, Jairaj added. However, we have asked the SC/ST commission to give us two months’ time so that the KPTCL committee can decided on the matter. We have also asked for 15 days to fix the amount of increment. INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
