Insulted Dalit youth sets
up his own hotel
Monday August 22 2005 12:36 IST
BIDAR: Mohan Keladoddi is a simple
young man but he had the gumption to stand up for his rights.
Born a dalit in the backward Bakachoudi vilalge in Bidar district, he was insulted by a
hotelier, who abused him for refusing to wash the cup from which he had had
tea. That was the ‘custom’ in the villages. Dalits had to drink from cups kept
in fourangis, iron buckets hung outside the
hotels. After using the cup they had to wash it and put it back in place.
Three years ago, Mohan and his friends were asked to wash their cups. When they
protested against the discrimination, a heated argument followed. That was when
Mohan decided to start his own hotel, where he would not discriminate between
people.
On Friday Mohan Keladoddi is doing well in his
roadside coffee shop. But the treatment meted to dalits by the ‘elite’
community has made him and his friends ban the ‘superior’ community instead.
They refuse to step into the lanes where people of the upper community reside.
‘‘We do not want to discriminate, but are forced to take such a stand because
they do not realise that we are also educated and
informed.
Why should we take the insult any more?’’ he asks.
The village has a population of around 1600, but it has been difficult to
eradicate untouchability. ‘‘Our forefathers converted
to Christianity to escape from the discrimination, but our circumstances have
not changed. There is no change at all,’’ says Charles Shamanna.
In villages like Ekalar, Tulajachur,
Chintaki, Karanji (K) and Allapur untouchability is still
rampant.
Dalits are not allowed to enter temples or use water
from the same well. Jambagi, a Dalit colony in Bidar, has no electricity and is in the dark.
In Enakur village, Bhalki taluk, dalits are
ridiculed with the nickname government swamijis.
Forcing a dalit to wear
footwear garland, calling them by their caste name are all usual occurrences.
Lodging complaints against those who insult dalits has not yielded any results.
More than 100 instances of atrocities against dalits and fatal assault on 7
dalits have not been registered in police stations.
Mohan Keladoddi has shown one way of fighting the
indignity in his own novel way. Mohan Keladoddi at
his tea stalls at Bahachoudi village, serving
exclusively the dalits after a hotel owner insulted him.
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Building on unity: Dalit colony
seeks acceptance
NDTV Correspondent
Sunday, August 21, 2005 (New Delhi):
The desire for upward mobility has been
growing among the country's dalit community.
But as contemporary reality refuses to accept the community, Dalit officers in
the capital have decided to help themselves as far as homes are concerned.
Gaurav Apartments in East Delhi's Patparganj area were built by a group of Scheduled caste
and Scheduled tribe officers who felt they needed a colony for Dalit officers. 
"People used to live in the scheduled
caste colony in Karol Bagh earlier, but now some have
moved here," said Nakse Lal,
President, Gaurav
Apartments.
But getting the finances together was especially tough. Many had to leave
because they could not get the money together, which led the founders of the
colony to think of inviting some upper caste officers to join. "We were
short of funds so we asked upper caste officers to join us saying we will keep
you with respect. But when people realised that the
name of the colony was SC/ST, they left," said a resident.
Gathering dust
The construction of the apartments began in 1979 and was finally completed in
1996. It took 17 long years and those who live here believe the name of the
colony, SC/ST was what led to the incredible delay.
Other buildings in the same area for instance were completed in half the time. Flat
owners say that their files would lie in government departments for years
gathering dust without being cleared. Finally they gave up the fight and
decided to call the society Gaurav apartments, which
is devoid of all caste connotations.
The benefit was almost immediate as 25 non SC/ST families agreed to become
members. But even today the minute a property dealer points out that a majority
of the flats are owned by SC/STs there is a fall in
prices. "Even today if there is someone interested in this colony and
enquires with a property dealer, he is told that this is a scheduled caste
colony," said a resident.
Harsh reality
It is perhaps a sad reflection of modern India where a large
chunk of its population still struggles to be accepted simply because they were
not born with the acceptable name.
This is not just a story of dalits building a housing society but that of their
aspiration to become part of the middle class. In the last 50 years an
estimated 2.5 crore dalits all over the country have
gained from reservations in government jobs. This is the section that has the
money and the clout to influence politics and consequently the pride to inhabit
an apartment block whose name reflects that sentiment.
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Students help out Dalit farmers
in Orissa
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, August 22, 2005 (Bhubaneshwar):
NDTV had reported how several
cashew plantations owned by Dalits in the Khurda
district of Orissa had been destroyed by an upper caste land mafia last year.
This virtually put an end to the only source of livelihood for the Dalit
farmers. Now there's hope again after their cause was taken up by students'
groups who are replanting cashew trees to revive the destroyed plantations.
Helping hand
The students are hoping to salvage plantations
nurtured by 41 Dalit families under a government rehabilitation program for the
last decade.
Last year their upper caste neighbours violently
mowed down over four thousand trees in attempts at grabbing the land from these
people. And that spelled desperate times for the Dalit families earning between
Rs 4,000-12,000 a year from the cashew crop.
"Over 41 families were affected last year due to the felling of the trees.
We though that if we plant some trees, these families will get some
relief," said Bibhudatta Das,
Chairman, Eco Club, Bhubaneshwar.
NDTV Impact
In fact it was when NDTV reported the incident that these groups got together
to help the adivasis.
"Over a year ago, when we saw the news on NDTV, one of our teams had come
here. After that, we joined hands with Stuart School of Management and are
taking up this plantation today," said Prasanna
Kumar Nanda, Member, Y's Men
Club. And clearly for the Dalit and adivasi
families living under the fear of constant intimidation this new initiative is
nothing less than a miracle.
"This is like being born again. We think they
are not children but Gods disguised as children who are trying to help us.
After the trees were cut we lost our only source of income. Now it means that
if not us then at least our children will benefit from this," said Panchanan Behera, Dalit resident.
The question is whether this may be enough to secure the Dalit families.
These organisations insist they are here to stay to
protect them from another backlash.
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