[ZESTCaste] OBC leaders from T have good chance
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/obc-leaders-t-have-good-chance-837 OBC leaders from T have good chance September 8th, 2010 DC Correspondent Hyderabad/New Delhi, Sept. 7: Since the ministers of state, Ms Purandeswari, Ms Panabaka Lakshmi, Mr A. Sai Pratap and Mr M.M. Pallam Raju belong to the Seema-Andhra region, the chances of MPs belonging to the Telangana region, that too from OBC communities, to be made ministers of state have increased. There has been no representation for these sections in the Union Cabinet both in UPA-I and UPA-II regimes. But there are some delicacies involved. For instance, Congress sources wondered if it would be fair to offer a minister of state post to a veteran like Mr V. Hanumantha Rao, three-time MP and former PCC chief. Similarly, Dr K. Kesava Rao, though a first time MP, was also a PCC chief. Youngsters such as the Secunderabad MP, Mr Anjan Kumar Yadav, and the Nizamabad MP, Mr Madhu Yashki Goud, are also eyeing Cabinet berths. Mr Nandi Yellaiah, who belongs to the Madiga subset of scheduled caste community, is also dreaming big. However, chances are not bright for Mr Kavuri Sambasiva Rao (Eluru) and Mr Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) who belong to the Coastal Andhra area, since Ms Purandeswari from the same social grouping is already in the Cabinet. The Prime Minister’s comment that he would reduce the average age of the Cabinet has enthused young MPs but has given sleepless nights to the senior ministers. If Dr Singh goes strictly by the performance of young MPs in the Lok Sabha, then Mr Manish Tewari (Punjab), Dr Jyoti Mirdha (Rajasthan), Ms Meenakshi Natrajan (Madhya Pradesh) and Mr Raj Babbar (Uttar Pradesh) may get a chance. Mr Rajeev Shukla is another name doing the rounds and there are also chances of Mr Shashi Tharoor’s return as a minister. 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] Bilaso - owner of six goats and future dreams
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/danchaid/cb016744357d0b5b4269b43065d966d7.htm Bilaso - owner of six goats and future dreams 06 Sep 2010 14:14:51 GMT Source: DanChurchAid - Denmark Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone. 37 year old Bilaso Naik, single mother of two children used to work 25 km from home doing back breaking road construction the entire day. Bilaso Naik stands with her son near her mud home Now with the help from DanChurch Aid’s partner Nari Surakha Samiti (NSS) in Orissa she has recently started a new life rearing goats. The animals was bought with money from financial aid received from the government. A big hurdleEntitlements and access to rights for Dalits, Adivasis (tribal), women and other vulnerable communities have been a long drawn struggle in India with many legislations and orders passed by the Government since Independence. Yet, accessing these rights and entitlements in a timely manner seems to stand forth as the biggest hurdles for vulnerable and marginalized masses. 37 years old Bilaso Naik is one who overcame this odd. Abused by husbandA resident of the Dalit hamlet in the village of Bimal Beda in the Angul district of Orissa, Bilaso was a single mother at twenty two with two children after her partner abandoned her. Her relationship was not a legal marriage, but a commitment to a man who made a false promise of marrying her. He beat her, abused her after consuming alcohol and had multiple relationships. Returned to her mother Fed up, she left it all to return to her widowed mother. Today her family consists of her ailing mother and two young sons. “I have accepted this as my destiny. For so long I have heard people’s scorn, the taunts on my character. But what can I do? I have a larger and bigger struggle- to earn a living, to feed my family,†says Bilaso. Patriarchal valuesIn India, patriarchal norms define the woman’s “place†in society, her identity always attached to a male- a father or a brother or a husband. Even with the most progressive legislation on the subject, India’s hinterlands continue to be dominated with overarching patriarchal values. The situation is made complex by the multiple layers of vulnerabilities - a single Dalit poor woman abandoned by her husband faces multiple levels of discrimination and abuse. First Single Women Survey in Orissa, IndiaIt is this group of marginalized and exploited women that was identified by NSS in the first ever single woman survey conducted in the district. The outcome of the survey was the identification of more than 150 unwed mothers, mostly Dalits who were victims of the false promise marriages. A list was drawn of all the women and sent to the District Collector. 25 km to work “I was working as a wage labourer under the government programme, NREGA, constructing roads. There was no work in my area†, tells Bilaso. Last year one of the big multinational companies was taking up work widening a road, so Bilaso had to travel 25 km to work at that site. “An entire day of back breaking work and I used to earn 90 INR (Indian rupees) a day. Last year I got work only for 4 months,†says Bilaso. Accessing Government Schemes with Advocacy Sustained advocacy at all levels of governance by NSS has ensured that a number of women in this area get access to housing and a means to earn their livelihood. Bilaso has recently received the first installment of money from the Government scheme with which she has bought 6 goats. She is the only earning member of her family and dreams of having a bigger business rearing goats in the future. By Priyanka Mukherjee Mittal Regional Information and Documentation Officer, DanChurch Aid, India 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
[ZESTCaste] Maid trouble for L Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_maid-trouble-for-l-subramaniam-and-kavita-krishnamurthy_1434541 Maid trouble for L Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy Published: Tuesday, Sep 7, 2010, 9:45 IST By MK Madhusoodan | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA Violin maestro L Subramaniam and his wife, playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy are facing a different kind of music. Their maid, with support from a few Dalit organisations, accused the couple of harassing her. She complained to the police of harassment after the celebrity couple named her as a suspect in a theft case. Police confirmed receiving the complaint from the maid, Bhagya, 22. No case has been registered. The couple had earlier lodged a complaint after Rs55,000 in cash and a gold chain worth Rs75,000 had gone missing from their home at the High Income Group Housing Colony in Rajmahal Vilas 2nd Stage. “The couple suspected Bhagya in the theft. This turned out to be trouble for them with some Dalit organisations lending support to the maid, who accused the couple of harassment,” assistant commissioner of police (JC Nagar) C Munirathnam Naidu said. The outfits wanted the couple to withdraw the case against the woman. Kavita, meanwhile, denied the allegation of harassment. 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] Caste chauvinism in Delhi University
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/sep/070910-Delhi-University-principal-Dalit-teacher.htm Caste chauvinism in Delhi University By: Amit Singh and Vatsala Shrangi Date: 2010-09-07 Place: Delhi Principal allegedly targets Dalit teacher for demanding his ouster The caste map of India just got bigger. The new addition, though, would take a lot of people by surprise. Delhi University has allegedly joined the so-called caste chauvinists of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. An embattled principal of a Delhi University college, who is already facing charges of sexual misdemeanour, has allegedly made a casteist comment against a Dalit teacher. Dr Vijay Sharma, principal, Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University, has been charged with abusing a Dalit teacher of his institution by calling him names. "On August 31, I was standing along with some teachers who were protesting against the principal on some issues in the college verandah. I reached the spot after taking my class and was standing with two of my colleagues when a peon told me that the principal has asked for me," Dr Surendra Kumar, ad-hoc lecturer, Hindi, said in a written complaint to the staff association, a copy of which is with MiD DAY. "The principal threatened he would sack me. He misbehaved with me and said 'Gaon mein hote to joote hi banate, yahan padane aaye ho ya rajneeti karne?' (If you had not come to a city, you would have been making shoes back home in your village. Are you here to teach or play politics?"Dr Kumar alleged in his complaint against the Dr Sharma. The ad-hoc Dalit teacher said the mistreatment at the hands of the principal caused him immense emotional hurt. "I am aghast. Why did he target only me?" "I am under extreme emotional stress. I am afraid the principal will suspend me. I am the sole bread winner of my family and I seek the help of the staff association," the complaint by Dr Kumar read. All but two of the 47 permanent facult y members of Ram Lal Anand College have been on an indefinite strike since August 26, calling for an independent investigation into the "misdeeds" of their principal. The faculty has put out a "chargesheet" against Sharma, calling for him to be sent on leave pending enquiry. It also mentions gender harassment complaints filed by three senior women faculty members early this year. "The latter (Apex Complaints Committee, Delhi University) refused to make it a prima facie case of gender harassment without giving the complainants (an opportunity) to depose before it," the document states. The college's governing body has set up a committee to look into the allegations made by the women teachers and a report is expected soon. Teachers at the college have not only held the teaching process to ransom but also locked the principal's room for which the police had to be called on August 31. "I don't want to talk about it, but I know that Sharma has threatened Surendra Kumar for joining the protest against him. The manner in which he (the principal) works and behaves with the faculty members, especially women, is very offensive. He often humiliates teachers, shouts at them and call them shirkers,"said Rakesh Kumar, president staff association of the college. The Other Side I have never talked to any body in an offensive manner, whether a Dalit or a non-Dalit. I have so many Dalit friends, I cannot even think like this. I don't even remember talking to somebody by this name (Surendra) in my faculty. This is news to me. This is all trade union tactics to frame me. I just wanted to improve work ethics in the college, but the staff is opposing my reformist agenda. I am a victim and am being harassed by faculty members. At this juncture, I should be the one talking about harassment. I am emotionally beleaguered and traumatized. Things are not normal for me, there is a great amount of uncertainty. - Dr Vijay Sharma, principal, Ram Lal Anand College PAST INCIDENTS * Soon after its release, Madhuri Dixit's comeback vehicle 'Aaja Nachle' was banned by Punjab and Uttar Pradesh governments for using derogatory words in the title song. The song used the word "mochi" (cobbler) in contravention of the SC/ST Act. The ban, however, was soon revoked after the makers of the movie changed the lyrics. * "Billu Barber", the story of a village hairdresser who is a childhood friend of a Bollywood actor played by Shah Rukh Khan, was criticised by an association of hairdressers who found the title offensive. SRK talked to the association of hairdressers and assured them that he would hide the word "barber" from posters and billboards, and bleep out the word from the film, which released in February last year. WHAT THE LAW SAYS According to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 3(1)[x], any person who intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view shall be punishable with i
[ZESTCaste] Ghatampur suicide, rape case: No action yet against ‘guilty’ cops
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Ghatampur-suicide--rape-case--No-action-yet-against--guilty--cops/678290/ Ghatampur suicide, rape case: No action yet against ‘guilty’ cops Express News Service Posted online: Tue Sep 07 2010, 06:46 hrs Kanpur : Four days after the suicide by a 17-year-old Dalit girl in Ghatampur following her alleged rape, the authorities are yet to take any action against police personnel who had not only refused to lodge an FIR in the case but also allowed the accused to get away. The authorities said no action could be initiated as the team formed to probe into the role played by Station Officer Kalu Ram Dohrey and Constable Virendra Singh is yet to submit the report. Kanpur DIG Prem Prakash said: “Both Singh and Dohrey have been attached to lines. If found guilty, they would be suspended and a case will be registered against them.” The investigation is headed by Circle Officer of Ghatampur PP Singh. “Until I get the investigation report, it will not be possible to comment further,” he said. Moreover, the DIG said the girl’s family has not made any official complaint against the SO or the constable. Prakash said three teams have been formed to arrest the accused. “The neighbours, relatives and locals are being contacted by our teams to trace the absconding persons,” he said. The victim, a resident of Parauli village of Ghatampur block, immolated herself on the terrace of her house on September 3. She was a class XI student of Pandit Deen Beni Singh Bharat Inter College of Bheetargaon Block. According to the postmortem report, the girl died of burn injuries and a head injury. The girl’s father, Ashok Kumar, had alleged that a villager, Sunil Singh Bhadoria, had raped his daughter on September 2. According to him, the Station Officer of Ghatampur police station refused to register a case when he approached him. After a protest in the village on Friday, a case on the charges of kidnapping, rape, provocation for suicide and SC/ST Act was registered against Sunil and his parents. He said he could not lodge a formal complaint against the policemen because he had been running around since the death of his daughter. According to him, his daughter would not have committed suicide if the SO had registered a case on Thursday and arrested the accused “The SO and the constable are equally responsible for my daughter’s death,” he said. A group of BJP leaders, including former legislator Bal Chandra Mishra, visited Parauli village on Monday to meet the victim’s family. Mishra blamed the police for the Dalit girl’s suicide. Senior state BJP leaders are expected to visit the village on September 10. 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] Caste in motion (D Shyam Babu, Lant Pritchett, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Devesh Kapur)
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Caste-in-motion/677985/ Caste in motion D Shyam Babu, Lant Pritchett, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Devesh Kapur Posted online: 2010-09-07 20:36:55+05:30 Popular media and academic descriptions of India’s rapid economic transformation in the era of market reforms often come with a ‘but’: “But development has also disrupted existing ways of living. It has strained the social and cultural fabric of the villages.” If any post-Foucauldian social scientist has any insight to offer, surely it is that the nostalgia of elites is an unreliable guide to the actual experiences of marginalised social groups. As Ambedkar recognised more than 6 decades ago: “The love of the intellectual Indians for the village community is of course infinite if not pathetic… What is the village but a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow mindedness and communalism?” Precisely those people and groups the ‘cultural fabric of the villages’ pressured into social inferiority generally lack access both to media outlets and to the technical tools of academia for structuring discourse, both of words and numbers. Do Dalits’ own assessments of the era of market reform come with a ‘but’ or with an ‘and’? We add to the existing literature on the evolution of wellbeing during the era of market reforms using a survey constructed by Dalits, implemented by Dalits, administered to all Dalit households in 2 blocks of Uttar Pradesh. The blocks chosen are Bilaria Ganj in Azamgarh District in eastern UP and Khurja in Bulandshahar District in western UP (hereafter eastern block and western block respectively). The instrument, uniquely among existing large-scale surveys, asks specifically about changes since 1990 in a variety of caste practices at the household and social level. With this data, we can document 3 massive changes in the areas surveyed. First, there have been major changes in the grooming, eating and ceremonial consumption patterns of Dalits, signalling their higher social status by adopting higher status consumption patterns. Dalits shifted out of low status (but highly calorie intensive) foods like sugar cane juice and roti chatni into diets containing (unbroken) rice, fresh vegetables and spices and increased use of high status foods in social occasions like weddings. Second, respondents report changes in the accepted behaviours between castes, with rapid erosion in discriminatory processes that stigmatised Dalits. By and large in these blocks Dalits are less likely to be seated separately at weddings, they no longer are expected to handle the dead animals of other castes, there is a noticeable increase in births in Dalit households that are attended by non-Dalit midwives and non-Dalits increasingly accept hospitality in Dalit homes. None of these practices were common in 1990. Third, there have been large shifts in the pattern of economic life both away from and within the villages. There has been a considerable increase in (mostly) circular migration to distant cities to work, with nearly half of Dalit households in the eastern block having a member in the cities. In the villages, Dalits have shifted into professions (e.g. tailors, masons and drivers) and businesses (e.g. grocers, paan shop owners). Agricultural relations have changed such that almost no Dalits participate in bonded economic ties (halwaha) and many fewer Dalits even perform agricultural labour on upper caste lands as Dalits now are much more likely to contract in factors from high caste groups (e.g. tractors, land) than sell their labour to them. Inequality in what? For whom? India’s socially marginalised populations suffer from 2 key forms of disadvantage—social indignity and material poverty— which emerge from intertwined socially and economically perpetuated inequalities. Empirical assessments in India tend to conflate the two into measures of material wellbeing (e.g. poverty or inequality) or ‘neutral’ social indicators like education, health or nutrition outcomes. Even if the distinction between indignity and economic status arises, it is treated as axiomatic that the first is completely dependent on the second. Even when attention is turned to ‘caste’, often the data compare outcomes on standard indicators (consumption expenditures, education) across castes, but with almost no attention to how caste markers, behaviours and practices themselves may have changed. Many have expressed concern that growth of the market economy in India unleashes “inequality-increasing” forces. S Mahendra Dev and C Ravi reach a “clear conclusion” that inequality “increased significantly in the post-reform period”, a conclusion shared by other researchers. But the exclusive use of consumption expenditures or differences across castes in a few outcomes as measures of inequality cannot be adequate in the many parts of rural India where social inequalities—servility, humiliation, lack of self-respect—are important. Comparing consumption expenditure
[ZESTCaste] Introspect why Dalits left party, Shevale tells RPI workers
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/introspect-why-dalits-left-party-shevale-te/673451/ Introspect why Dalits left party, Shevale tells RPI workers Express News Service Posted online: Thu Aug 26 2010, 23:25 hrs Pune : Republican Party of India (RPI)leader MD Shevale today urged party workers to introspect why the Dalit or minority class, which is considered the base of the party, has moved away from the party in recent years. He was speaking at a workshop arranged for party workers. “ It is necessary to do the introspection if RPI wants to make inroads in the next PMC elections,” he said. Parshuram Wadekar, who presided over the function, said the RPI will focus on issues of slum dwellers, unemployed, workers, rickshaw and taxi drivers. “The party will soon start a campaign such as ‘RPI worker at your doorsteps’. The party will form booth committees in the wake of PMC elections upcoming in 2012,” he said. State president of Matang Front of RPI Hanumant Sathe, Navnath Kamble, Siddharth Dhende, M B Waghmare were also present on the occasion. 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] Dalit boy cremated on the road in absence of common cremation grounds
http://sikhsangat.org/2010/09/dalit-boy-cremated-on-the-road-in-absence-of-common-cremation-grounds/ Dalit boy cremated on the road in absence of common cremation grounds Posted on September 6, 2010 under caste problems Mehma Bhagwana (Bathinda), September 6: Residents of this cancer-affected dusty village of Bathinda district today lit the pyre of a four-year-old Dalit boy in the middle of a road ruing that in the absence of a common cremation ground, they had no other option. The boy, Vijay Pal, was reportedly suffering from cancer for the past few months and passed away last evening. Since then, his kin were not only grieving over his death but also worrying about finding a place to cremate him. The bereaved kin asked the sarpanch to make some arrangements for his cremation. Unable to do so, the sarpanch offered that they light the pyre in the middle of the road outside his house. Before the bereaved kin could light the pyre, policemen from the Nehianwala police station reached the spot and the SHO, Gurpreet Singh, brought the matter to the notice of the Bathinda SDM, who assured to send an executive magistrate soon. Meanwhile, the police installed barricades on both sides of the road and diverted the traffic to an alternate route. To prevent villagers from cremating the body, the SHO kept them engaged in negotiations. However, when even after over two hours the executive magistrate did not reach, the villagers lit the pyre on the road at 10.30 am. The deceased’s grandfather, Bhola Singh, said: “It is our ill fate that we could not bid him a decent farewell. We are poor daily wagers who possess no land. The village too has no common cremation ground, which forced us to cremate him on the road.” Gurcharan Singh, a villager, said: “Earlier, the village had its own cremation ground but about three years ago, the former panchayat passed a resolution to transfer the land for the cremation ground to construct waterworks with a hope that the village would get potable water to save us from the deadly disease of cancer.” Sarpanch Gamdoor Singh said: “It was also decided that the village would get an alternate land for the cremation ground. Though the administration earmarked a piece of land for the purpose, it was within the boundary wall of the village gurdwara, which we are not ready to use for this purpose.” He added that according to the revenue record, the village had one more chunk of land measuring three kanals and two marlas, which was the best suited for the cremation ground. “But despite our repeated representations, the administration is not allowing us to go ahead as the land is located near the houses of some landlords, who are close to leaders of the ruling parties,” the sarpanch said. Villagers said since the authorities had started the construction of the waterworks, which was being taken up under a World Bank scheme, nearly six deaths had taken place. In some cases, landlords offered their fields to perform the last rites but in most of the cases, villagers cremated their kin even inside their courtyards. Executive magistrate Avtar Singh said” “The land earmarked for the cremation ground is best suited for the purpose, but the villagers are not willing to use it. They are saying that it should be located on the land near the houses of landlords, but they have objections over it. Despite this, we are trying to find an amicable solution as more sites are being considered for the purpose.” Source: Tribune india 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/
