Sept.25 to Sept.30.2023.Untouchables today.news.by Sivaji.A.GS.Dr Ambedkar Ambulance Assn.Chennai.
Dalit Woman Assaulted, Forced To Drink Urine After Her Refusal To Pay Extra Money To Lender In Bihar
A Dalit woman was brutally assaulted, stripped naked, and beaten severely with sticks in Bihar’s Patna.
Updated: 25 Sep 2023 8:25 Am
A Dalit woman has been allegedly stripped, beaten and forced to drink urine by a father-son duo in Bihar's Patna after she refused to pay them extra Rs 1,500 despite having already repaid their loan.
The reports said the victim received grievous injuries in the incident. She is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, the reports said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Patna), Rajeev Mishra, revealed that a determined manhunt is currently underway to apprehend a suspect who remains at large.
Mishra stated, "Our team is actively pursuing the accused in question." According to accounts from local witnesses, the unfortunate incident appears to be rooted in a financial dispute between the victim and her husband on one side and the accused on the other. The situation escalated, resulting in an outbreak of violence.
Importantly, Mishra clarified, "At this point, the allegations of disrobing and other related accusations have not been substantiated. Our ongoing investigations are still in their initial stages." The police have taken prompt action by submitting a compensation proposal to the district welfare officer for the benefit of the victim. It is also worth noting that the injured woman is currently receiving medical treatment.
Mishra affirmed the commitment of law enforcement to uncover the truth, stating, "We will thoroughly investigate any emerging facts as they come to light. At present, there is no concrete evidence to support claims of urination at the scene, and local witnesses have not corroborated this aspect either. However, we can confirm an incident where the woman was subjected to physical assault. Rest assured, we are diligently working towards the swift apprehension of the accused."
However, the victim managed to escape and returned to her home, the report said.
“According to the complaint, the woman had borrowed Rs 1,500 on interest from Pramod Singh a few months ago and had returned the money with interest. Nevertheless, the accused continued to demand more money from her, which she refused to provide,” the report said.
“Pramod had threatened the woman, saying they would make her wander around the village naked if she didn't give them more money,” it said.
It is alleged that the woman had previously informed the police about the threats, but no action was taken, the report mentioned.
The incident has sparked unrest in the area, with the victim's family and the Dalit community demanding immediate action, it said.
The accused as per the reports are on run after the incident.
Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/can-dalit-parties-reignite-social-justice-movement-2-2699262.
NEWS
1,200-Year-Old Buddhist Temple Structure Unearthed in Malaysia
- By Justin Whitaker
- September 26, 2023
Malaysia’s National Heritage Department and the University of Science (USM) Global Archaeology Research Centre (GARC) announced last week that they have discovered an ancient Buddhist temple structure in Bukit Choras, north of the island of Penang and some 70 kilometers from the border with Thailand. The structure is believed to be 1,200 yearsold, dating to southern India’s Pallava dynasty.
Excavation work at the site began on 28 August. The commissioner of the National Heritage Department, Mohd Azmi Mohd Yusof, described the findings as the most significant archaeological discovery in Malaysia since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The temple is estimated to cover an area of nine square meters, but further excavation will needed to determine its exact dimensions. Currently, the researchers believe the work to be about 40 per cent complete. The archaeologists noted that the temple is the largest ever found in this valley and its architectural characteristics make it an exciting find.
“The most unique feature about this discovery is that most of the artifacts are still intact, the temple still retaining its full structure,” said Yusof. “We hope to make more discoveries to bring elements into Kedah civilization besides adding a new archaeo-tourism product in the state.” (New Straits Times)
“This is the first discovery under a pilot project following an MoU signed between the department and 11 local universities,” Yusof noted during a press conference after visiting the site on 22 September.
The team was led by GARC chief researcher Dr. Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, who noted: “The uniqueness of the temple at this archaeological site is firstly how it has been preserved, we can see that the condition of the walls in the north, west, and south areas are well-preserved. Secondly, we found two human-sized structures made out of stucco . . . and the discovery of stucco has not been reported in the Bujang Valley but only in Sumatra and Java.” (South Asian Archaeology)
Also present at the press conference were USM vice-chancellor Prof. Abdul Rahman Mohamed and GARC director Prof. Stephen Chia.
Prof. Mohamed said that the university would continue to work with the GARC to promote future archaeo-tourism projects in the region: “There are many that are still to be explored in Bujang Valley as we need more time to carry out excavation works. More importantly, these discoveries shall enable us to review historical events written by the western historians.” (New Straits Times)
According to Dr. Khaw, there were similarities between the temple at Bukit Choras and temples in West Java and Sumatra, raising questions about the cultural relationship between this site and others in Southeast Asia. “The statues and artifacts discovered from the site will be taken back to GARC USM for conservation and further research,” he said. (New Straits Times)
Dr. Khaw explained that the excavation work as of 8 September had exposed the whole western wall of the temple and half of its northern and southern walls, as well as staircase structures on its base, adding that the site was special because it was so far north of other sites.
Work at the site is set to resume by December. In that time, the team hopes to uncover the remaining structure.
According to 2020 census data, 63.5 per cent of the population of Malaysia practices Islam. Buddhists account for 18.7 per cent of the population, Christians 9.1 per cent, and Hindus 6.1 per cent. The remaining 9 per cent follow a variety of other religious traditions.
Justin Whitaker
Kaushambi (UP), Sep 27 (PTI) The district administration on Wednesday suspended four employees of the land consolidation department and sought suspension of an assistant land consolidation officer in connection with the killing of three members of a Dalit family.
“The suspension of Assistant Land Consolidation Officer Afzal Ahmed has also been sought,” he add.
News 5.
Prayagraj: Sub-Inspector booked for raping Dalit woman who sought police help over threat calls
The accused 42-year-old sub-inspector, Sudhir Pandey, has been suspended and a probe has been ordered against him. (Representational Photo)The woman said that after consuming cold drinks, she fell unconscious and the S-I then raped her inside the car,” said a police officer involved in the probe.
A police sub-inspector has been booked in Prayagraj for allegedly raping a 35-year-old Dalit woman who had approached him regarding threat calls from an anonymous caller.
The accused 42-year-old sub-inspector, Sudhir Pandey, has been suspended and a probe has been ordered against him, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Prayagraj) Sudhir Kumar said on Wednesday.
According to police, the alleged incident took place last Thursday (September 21) when Pandey “forced” the woman to accompany him in his car to identify the person who allegedly made threat calls to her.
The woman, who is married and has a son, in her complaint said that she had gone to a police outpost to complain about getting threat calls from an anonymous caller. The outpost in-charge, S-I Pandey, took her cellphone number and said he would find out the caller. However, according to the woman, Pandey started making random calls to her.
On September 21 afternoon, the woman said that S-I Pandey asked her to come to the police outpost in the evening.
“The woman said that when she was heading towards the police outpost, she came across S-I Pandey, who was seated inside a private car. The S-I told her that he has traced a person who had made the threatening call to her. She alleged that the S-I forced her to sit inside the car and offered her cold drinks laced with sedatives on the way.
The woman said that after consuming cold drinks, she fell unconscious and the S-I then raped her inside the car,” said a police officer involved in the probe.
The woman also said that while returning to the outpost, Pandey who was drunk by then, lost control over the wheels and the car collided with a tree. She was injured and a police team got her admitted to a hospital.
She also alleged that three men, identified as Arjun, Sabhajeet, and Santosh Pandey, along with the S-I started threatening her against filing a rape complaint.
The FIR was registered on September 26 after the woman lodged a complaint with senior officers. The FIR against S-I Pandey has been lodged under IPC sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 354-D (stalking), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and different sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Arjun, Sabhajeet, and Santosh have also been booked, police said.
“It will be a part of the investigation to find whether any complaint of threat calls was filed on a complaint of the woman,” said a senior police officer, adding that the woman said that she could not immediately file a complaint against the S-I after the alleged incident as she was unwell and could not go to the police station.
Priest booked under SC/ST Act in Hisar
In his complaint to the police, Baljeet Singh, a resident of Hisar’s Dogran Mohalla, said that a religious programme was conducted at a temple near his house and he along with his friend Sunil went there. Hisar DSP said the priest was booked under various Sections of the SC/ST Act and an investigation is underway.
“When we sought ‘prasad’ from priest Om Prakash, he hurled abuses at us, and refused to give us the same. He told us not to visit the temple as this belongs to upper caste people only. When we resisted, he along with three men thrashed us and told us to leave the temple premises,” the complainant added.
Hisar DSP Kaptan Singh said that the priest was booked under various Sections of the SC/ST Act and an investigation is underway.
Kolar | Assault by Savarna woman; Dalit youth commits suicide
An incident in which a dalit youth committed suicide after being attacked by a savarnaiya woman with a broom took place in Ulagere village of Malur taluk of Kolar district.
Srinivas (32), a Dalit youth, and Ashok (32), an upper caste, were friends and daily laborers.
After the incident Srinivas, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide by hanging himself. It is reported that Ashok and his wife Manjula, who belong to the Tigla community, have been detained and are being investigated.
News no 8.
India’s Dalit population continues to face widespread violence
From a remote village in Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh, to what we see as cosmopolitan Kerala, Rajasthan, violence against Dalits continues
CJP Team
From the second half of September 2023, Sabrang India brings to you a coverage of the reported issues of violence against Dalits. From a minister being discriminated against in a Kerala temple to a semi-conscious man forced to sign papers of a compromise in Punjab’s Jalandhar, it is not easy being a Dalit in India.
When violence against the community keeps rising like an epidemic. Different political parties govern these states, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress (INC) to the CPI-M yet this systemic violence continues!
North
Jalandhar, Punjab
In Jalandhar, a Dalit youth was reported to have been kidnapped and beaten by the son of an Aam Aadmi Party leader. The victim Aakash Bangar shared details of the incident as reported by the Tribune India on September 16, 2023.
Source: Tribune India.
Bangar recounted, “I was coming from near Dakoha last evening in my Baleno car. Dhall’s son and his friend were following me and continuously using a hooter, which irritated me. I got out of the car and asked him why he was using it when he was no big shot. On this, he and his friend got agitated. They bundled me in his car, covered my face with a cloth and kept on beating me throughout. Since I hail from Phagwara and run an NGO for blood donation there, I did not even know who Dhall is till he joined them to beat me up.”
The situation escalated further when Dinesh Dhall the AAP leader himself reportedly joined the episode and took the victim to the Rama Mandi police station where another round of physical abuse reportedly occurred in the presence of law enforcement officers.
However, the harrowing incidents did not end there. Bangar asserted that he received inadequate treatment from the on-duty doctors at the Civil Hospital after he arrived at the hospital around 11:30 pm at the behest of AAP leaders. Later, Bangar’s friends and family had to transfer him to a private hospital where he finally received proper medical attention.
Furthermore, the Jalandhar city police opted not to file a case, instead attempting to broker a compromise between the AAP leader’s son and the victim while the latter was still undergoing treatment, according reports. Senior police officials categorised the incident as a minor “road rage” altercation, stating that both parties had agreed to reconcile. This compromise reportedly took place even as Congress MLAs, including Bawa Henry and Pargat Singh, as well as District Congress chief Rajinder Beri, met with Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal urging for the registration of an FIR in the case.
Balwinder Kumar, a leader from the BSP also came forward in support of Bangar. He alleged, “Senior police officials in Jalandhar tend to take action against Dalit activists or individuals from marginalised sections even for minor offences, such as protesting over delays in the SC Post-Matric Scholarship. In this case, where prominent figures like the AAP leader and his family are implicated in an attack, the authorities are treating it as a minor offence.”
Later in the evening, Bangar denied claims of a compromise and alleged coercion and stating that the police had made him sign on papers when he was barely conscious at the hospital, “While I was semi-conscious in the hospital, the police repeatedly sought my signatures on various documents. I signed these papers without understanding their contents. Subsequently, someone informed me that one of the documents concerned a compromise, which I plan to revoke. After such an incident, I have no intention of reaching a compromise.”
Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
A teenage Dalit girl was raped in Ballia, the news arose on September 15. In connection with the case the police have arrested one accused. Circle Officer Mohammad Usman has reported that both the minor victim and the accused, a 22-year-old named Tufani Yadav, are residents of the same village. The alleged incident of rape occurred on September 11, according to the the police.
A formal complaint was lodged by the girl’s brother after which the arrest took place and a case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the SC/ST Act against Yadav, according to Usman.
Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
Another harrowing story emerges from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia. A Dalit youth Sandeep Kumar and his cousin Vikas were brutally attacked with knives near Chilkahar railway station under Gadwar police station’s jurisdiction.Sudeep and Vikas were at the railway platform. A group from their village attacked them with knives, causing chaos. Sandeep succumbed to his injuries, while Vikas was rushed to a Varanasi trauma centre.
The incident also gave rise to local protests and a road blockade from the community and further developments led to Inspector Rajkumar Singh of Gadwar police station being suspended. An FIR under sections of the SC/ST Act has been filed. Three people have been remanded out of the twelve accused. The outraged public conducted a road blockade of the Ballia-Lucknow highway with demands for compensation for Sandeep’s family, and government employment for his widow. After officials assured of swift action, the protest was called off. The family alleged that previous attacks had also been taken out by the accused on Sandeep, however the authorities had not taken his complaint seriously. Following Sandeep’s death, the SHO has been suspended from duty.
Patan, Gujarat
In the rural corner of Gujarat, caste discrimination seems to have led the district administration to over 400 ration card holders to buy their ration from the neighbouring village of Edla instead of the village they reside in. District collector Arvind Vijayan issued the order on September 12 after villagers refused to buy ration from a Dalit man named Kanti Parmar in Kanosan.
A year and a half ago a majority of ration cardholders from the Thakor community, which dominates Kanosan, stopped buying their monthly rations from Kanti Parmar’s FPS over a year ago. They also alleged that Parmar had threatened to file the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act against them, according to the Indian Express.
To address this dispute, the district administration gathered statements from 268 Kanosan residents. Of these, 260 expressed their willingness to switch to neighbouring FPS options, while only eight still favoured buying from Kanti Parmar.
Following this consensus, collector Arvind Vijayan ordered the transfer of all ration cards to the FPS run by Visabhai Rabari in Edla village, located just 1.5 km from Kanosan.
Kanti Parmar has vehemently denied all false allegations against him, asserting that the dispute originated when he refused to provide rations to a Thakor leader who was actually ineligible to receive the ration. Speaking to the Indian Express, he stated clearly that his shop had been targeted for boycott by the Thakor community.
The issue got extremely pressing and concerning to that point that Kanti attempted suicide by ingesting poison in a public park. Following this incident his son, Mukesh, filed a police complaint against four Thakor community members, alleging that they had encouraged villagers to boycott the shop and falsely accused Kanti.
Collector Arvind Vijayan defended his order as a result of an internal inquiry and strong opposition from villagers. He assured that Kanti would have an opportunity to present his side before any decisions about shop licence cancellation are made.
Mukesh Parmar has further expressed fears that their shop would now be closed, and it would be a disaster for the family given it was their only source of income.
Shahjahanpur, UP
A 15-year-old Dalit girl was reportedly subjected to months of rape by two men in an area under the jurisdiction of Roza Police Station. The teenager used to visit a woman’s house in her neighbourhood which was where she was introduced to Tanveer and Dilbag. The additional Superintendent of Police Sudhir Jaiswal has stated that according to the victim’s father’s complaint, Tanveer and Dilbag raped the minor girl over a four-month period and had also threatened her not to disclose the abuse to anyone.
Tanveer, Dilbag, and the neighbor Nisha have been booked under sections 376 D (gang rape), 354 (assault with intent to outrage modesty), and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The victim has undergone a medical examination and authorities are actively pursuing the accused individuals according to the ASP.
Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
On September 16, in Dugaar village in the Begun area of Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan, an elderly Dalit man was subjected to gross humiliation. A video recently surfaced on social media, revealing that he was coerced into making an apology before the village panchayat by placing shoes on his head. Following intervention by Dallit activists, the police took action on Monday night by registering a case against seven individuals under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Subsequently three individuals, namely Sukhdev, Dinesh, and Behru Lal, were further arrested in connection with this incident.
The video depicted villagers surrounding the elderly man, who stood with a bundle of shoes on his head while repeatedly offering apologies with folded hands. After his apology, he was instructed to sit down.
According to SHO Devendra Kumar, the police initiated proceedings upon receiving a complaint. Allegedly, during one of his religious recitations, Salvi made remarks that offended members of the Gurjar community. Initially, these remarks went relatively unnoticed during the recitation. However, the situation escalated when a video of the incident started circulating on social media which received with anger by the accused.
South
Kolar, Karnataka
A Dalit man lost his life to suicide after he was abused with casteist slurs and beaten by a broom at Haralugere village in Kolar district of Karnataka.
The man had apparently made an inappropriate remark about a friend’s wife which led to the violent altercation where the husband and his friends assaulted the man. The complaint that was lodged at the Malur police station stated that the man committed suicide due to humiliation meted out by his friends. Inspector Vasanth Kumar ha stated that a case has been registered against the five accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Following the man’s suicide, the accused fled the place.
Kannur, Kerala
Kerala’s Minister for SC/ST Welfare, K Radhakrishnan recently spoke up about an incident of caste discrimination he himself faced during a temple function in the Kannur district of Kerala. Radhakrishnan who also holds the portfolio for Devaswom temple affairs has called for a fundamental shift in the mind-set that perpetuates such discriminatory practices.
“I believe that the general public of Kerala will not accept it. The caste system is a stain on society, and as long as it exists, the fight against it will continue,” asserted the minister, according to Deccan Chronicle. The incident in question took place during the inauguration ceremony at a temple when Radhakrishnan found himself side-lined based on his caste. Two temple priests, he revealed, declined to hand him the sacred flame, which is customarily used to light the main lamp at such events.
Radhakrishnan recounted the incident during a gathering at a Bharatiya Velan Service Society program in Kottayam, and asserted, “I pointed out that they don’t discriminate against the money I give but they discriminate against me. The caste system may not disappear overnight, but it has not gone away from people’s minds. I expressed my disappointment that they discriminate against people while not showing any discrimination towards the money donated by the poor, which changes hands from the butcher or fish seller and comes out of their trousers.”
Radhakrishnan has decided not to pursue legal action in the Kannur incident, advocating for resolving the issue through dialogue. Meanwhile, the state committee of the Akhila Kerala Thanthri Samajam has responded saying that priests conducting ‘deva pujas’ do not make physical contact with anyone, irrespective of their caste, until the ceremony concludes.
News no 9.
Systemic and widespread: Violence against Dalit continues across Indian states
From a remote village in Gujarat to ghastly targeted gender violence in Uttar Pradesh, to what we see as cosmopolitan Kerala, and even Rajasthan, violence against Dalits in various forms continues.
From the second half of September 2023, Sabrang India brings to you a coverage of the reported issues of violence against Dalits. From a minister being discriminated against in a Kerala temple to a semi-conscious man forced to sign papers of a compromise in Punjab’s Jalandhar, it is not easy being a Dalit in India when violence against the community keeps rising like an epidemic. Different political parties govern these states, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress (INC) to the CPI-M yet this systemic violence continues!
North
Jalandhar, Punjab
In Jalandhar, a Dalit youth was reported to have been kidnapped and beaten by the son of an Aam Aadmi Party leader. The victim Aakash Bangar shared details of the incident as reported by the Tribune India on September 16, 2023.
Bangar recounted, “I was coming from near Dakoha last evening in my Baleno car. Dhall’s son and his friend were following me and continuously using a hooter, which irritated me. I got out of the car and asked him why he was using it when he was no big shot. On this, he and his friend got agitated. They bundled me in his car, covered my face with a cloth and kept on beating me throughout. Since I hail from Phagwara and run an NGO for blood donation there, I did not even know who Dhall is till he joined them to beat me up.”
The situation escalated further when Dinesh Dhall the AAP leader himself reportedly joined the episode and took the victim to the Rama Mandi police station where another round of physical abuse reportedly occurred in the presence of law enforcement officers.
However, the harrowing incidents did not end there. Bangar asserted that he received inadequate treatment from the on-duty doctors at the Civil Hospital after he arrived at the hospital around 11:30 pm at the behest of AAP leaders. Later, Bangar’s friends and family had to transfer him to a private hospital where he finally received proper medical attention.
Furthermore, the Jalandhar city police opted not to file a case, instead attempting to broker a compromise between the AAP leader’s son and the victim while the latter was still undergoing treatment, according reports. Senior police officials categorised the incident as a minor “road rage” altercation, stating that both parties had agreed to reconcile. This compromise reportedly took place even as Congress MLAs, including Bawa Henry and Pargat Singh, as well as District Congress chief Rajinder Beri, met with Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal urging for the registration of an FIR in the case.
Balwinder Kumar, a leader from the BSP also came forward in support of Bangar. He alleged, “Senior police officials in Jalandhar tend to take action against Dalit activists or individuals from marginalised sections even for minor offences, such as protesting over delays in the SC Post-Matric Scholarship. In this case, where prominent figures like the AAP leader and his family are implicated in an attack, the authorities are treating it as a minor offence.”
Later in the evening, Bangar denied claims of a compromise and alleged coercion and stating that the police had made him sign on papers when he was barely conscious at the hospital, “While I was semi-conscious in the hospital, the police repeatedly sought my signatures on various documents. I signed these papers without understanding their contents. Subsequently, someone informed me that one of the documents concerned a compromise, which I plan to revoke. After such an incident, I have no intention of reaching a compromise.”
Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
A teenage Dalit girl was raped in Ballia, the news arose on September 15. In connection with the case the police have arrested one accused. Circle Officer Mohammad Usman has reported that both the minor victim and the accused, a 22-year-old named Tufani Yadav, are residents of the same village. The alleged incident of rape occurred on September 11, according to the the police.
A formal complaint was lodged by the girl’s brother after which the arrest took place and a case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the SC/ST Act against Yadav, according to Usman.
Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
Another harrowing story emerges from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia. A Dalit youth Sandeep Kumar and his cousin Vikas were brutally attacked with knives near Chilkahar railway station under Gadwar police station’s jurisdiction.Sudeep and Vikas were at the railway platform. A group from their village attacked them with knives, causing chaos. Sandeep succumbed to his injuries, while Vikas was rushed to a Varanasi trauma centre.
The incident also gave rise to local protests and a road blockade from the community and further developments led to Inspector Rajkumar Singh of Gadwar police station being suspended. An FIR under sections of the SC/ST Act has been filed. Three people have been remanded out of the twelve accused. The outraged public conducted a road blockade of the Ballia-Lucknow highway with demands for compensation for Sandeep’s family, and government employment for his widow. After officials assured of swift action, the protest was called off. The family alleged that previous attacks had also been taken out by the accused on Sandeep, however the authorities had not taken his complaint seriously. Following Sandeep’s death, the SHO has been suspended from duty.
Patan, Gujarat
In the rural corner of Gujarat, caste discrimination seems to have led the district administration to over 400 ration card holders to buy their ration from the neighbouring village of Edla instead of the village they reside in. District collector Arvind Vijayan issued the order on September 12 after villagers refused to buy ration from a Dalit man named Kanti Parmar in Kanosan.
A year and a half ago a majority of ration cardholders from the Thakor community, which dominates Kanosan, stopped buying their monthly rations from Kanti Parmar’s FPS over a year ago. They also alleged that Parmar had threatened to file the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act against them, according to the Indian Express.
To address this dispute, the district administration gathered statements from 268 Kanosan residents. Of these, 260 expressed their willingness to switch to neighbouring FPS options, while only eight still favoured buying from Kanti Parmar.
Following this consensus, collector Arvind Vijayan ordered the transfer of all ration cards to the FPS run by Visabhai Rabari in Edla village, located just 1.5 km from Kanosan.
Kanti Parmar has vehemently denied all false allegations against him, asserting that the dispute originated when he refused to provide rations to a Thakor leader who was actually ineligible to receive the ration. Speaking to the Indian Express, he stated clearly that his shop had been targeted for boycott by the Thakor community.
The issue got extremely pressing and concerning to that point that Kanti attempted suicide by ingesting poison in a public park. Following this incident his son, Mukesh, filed a police complaint against four Thakor community members, alleging that they had encouraged villagers to boycott the shop and falsely accused Kanti.
Collector Arvind Vijayan defended his order as a result of an internal inquiry and strong opposition from villagers. He assured that Kanti would have an opportunity to present his side before any decisions about shop licence cancellation are made.
Mukesh Parmar has further expressed fears that their shop would now be closed, and it would be a disaster for the family given it was their only source of income.
Shahjahanpur, UP
A 15-year-old Dalit girl was reportedly subjected to months of rape by two men in an area under the jurisdiction of Roza Police Station. The teenager used to visit a woman’s house in her neighbourhood which was where she was introduced to Tanveer and Dilbag. The additional Superintendent of Police Sudhir Jaiswal has stated that according to the victim’s father’s complaint, Tanveer and Dilbag raped the minor girl over a four-month period and had also threatened her not to disclose the abuse to anyone.
Tanveer, Dilbag, and the neighbor Nisha have been booked under sections 376 D (gang rape), 354 (assault with intent to outrage modesty), and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The victim has undergone a medical examination and authorities are actively pursuing the accused individuals according to the ASP.
Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
On September 16, in Dugaar village in the Begun area of Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan, an elderly Dalit man was subjected to gross humiliation. A video recently surfaced on social media, revealing that he was coerced into making an apology before the village panchayat by placing shoes on his head. Following intervention by Dallit activists, the police took action on Monday night by registering a case against seven individuals under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Subsequently three individuals, namely Sukhdev, Dinesh, and Behru Lal, were further arrested in connection with this incident.
The video depicted villagers surrounding the elderly man, who stood with a bundle of shoes on his head while repeatedly offering apologies with folded hands. After his apology, he was instructed to sit down.
According to SHO Devendra Kumar, the police initiated proceedings upon receiving a complaint. Allegedly, during one of his religious recitations, Salvi made remarks that offended members of the Gurjar community. Initially, these remarks went relatively unnoticed during the recitation. However, the situation escalated when a video of the incident started circulating on social media which received with anger by the accused.
South
Kolar, Karnataka
A Dalit man lost his life to suicide after he was abused with casteist slurs and beaten by a broom at Haralugere village in Kolar district of Karnataka.
The man had apparently made an inappropriate remark about a friend’s wife which led to the violent altercation where the husband and his friends assaulted the man. The complaint that was lodged at the Malur police station stated that the man committed suicide due to humiliation meted out by his friends. Inspector Vasanth Kumar ha stated that a case has been registered against the five accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Following the man’s suicide, the accused fled the place.
Kannur, Kerala
Kerala’s Minister for SC/ST Welfare, K Radhakrishnan recently spoke up about an incident of caste discrimination he himself faced during a temple function in the Kannur district of Kerala. Radhakrishnan who also holds the portfolio for Devaswom temple affairs has called for a fundamental shift in the mind-set that perpetuates such discriminatory practices.
“I believe that the general public of Kerala will not accept it. The caste system is a stain on society, and as long as it exists, the fight against it will continue,” asserted the minister, according to Deccan Chronicle. The incident in question took place during the inauguration ceremony at a temple when Radhakrishnan found himself side-lined based on his caste. Two temple priests, he revealed, declined to hand him the sacred flame, which is customarily used to light the main lamp at such events.
Radhakrishnan recounted the incident during a gathering at a Bharatiya Velan Service Society program in Kottayam, and asserted, “I pointed out that they don’t discriminate against the money I give but they discriminate against me. The caste system may not disappear overnight, but it has not gone away from people’s minds. I expressed my disappointment that they discriminate against people while not showing any discrimination towards the money donated by the poor, which changes hands from the butcher or fish seller and comes out of their trousers.”
Radhakrishnan has decided not to pursue legal action in the Kannur incident, advocating for resolving the issue through dialogue. Meanwhile, the state committee of the Akhila Kerala Thanthri Samajam has responded saying that priests conducting ‘deva pujas’ do not make physical contact with anyone, irrespective of their caste, until the ceremony concludes.
News no 10.
Telangana: Dalit woman dies after assault by ex-boyfriend Mohd Imran; police ruled out communal angle
The police is yet to nab the accused and have ignored the communal angle despite clear indications…
On September 25, a 26-year-old Dalit woman succumbed to her injuries inflicted upon her by an ex-lover in Nizamabad, Telangana. The victim allegedly distanced herself from the accused after he started forcing her to convert to Islam. Irked over her decision, the accused beat her mercilessly and ultimately she died.
As per a report published in Hindu Post, the victim and the accused were in a romantic relationship, however, when the accused started pressuring the victim to convert to Islam she cut ties with him. There were multiple reasons to this breakup and not just the conversion demand. He was also a drug addict. (Some media reports call him Toufiq and Ghouse).
The distressing event occurred on the night of September 23, when Teja Sri had mentioned she was heading out to roll beedis. As time went on, her family became increasingly worried when she didn’t return. At approximately 11:30 p.m., they found her unconscious near her aunt’s house in Jakranpally. Teja Sri was promptly taken to a hospital in Armoor and subsequently moved to the government hospital in Nizamabad, where she required ventilator support due to her severe injuries.
The family soon contacted Imran, who initially dismissed all allegations saying she jumped off his bike on their way back home. But when the family lodged a formal complaint against him, he confessed to his crime.
It is alleged that on the unfortunate day, Imran coerced her out of the house, forcibly her on his bike to a secluded location where he subjected her to an assault. Her attempt to escape the bike and subsequent altercation resulted in critical injuries.
Sadly, Teja Sri’s condition worsened after being admitted to the hospital, and she tragically passed away while receiving treatment at a local private hospital on September 25
.Media outlets have presented varying accounts of the incident. Some suggest that investigations point to Imran’s concerns about Teja Sri’s reputation, particularly regarding her overnight stay at an out-of-town wedding. The police have also dismissed any communal aspects, despite clear indications.
In an interview with reporters, Teja Sri’s mother stated, “I will now have to take care of my other daughter,” reflecting on the tragedy that befell her elder child.
The police have filed a case and launched a comprehensive investigation to nab the The mainstream news media’s reluctance to report incidents accurately and the police’s reluctance to consider potential communal aspects, dismissing such grave incidents as acts of a “jilted lover,” downplay the gravity of the situation.
Omprakash Valmiki’s Poems As A Symbol Of Resistance
Omprakash Valmiki’s poems are poems of consciousness and will continue to be sung from the streets to the Parliament in times of injustice
By Aashika Shivangi Singh
“Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth,” I thought of Omprakash Valmiki as soon as I read this statement by June Jordan. He powerfully imbued the soul of social reality into Hindi literature’s poems. His poetry has had such an influence that they are still read, performed, and recited in this country’s Parliament.
Valmiki Saheb made society aware of the conditions of Dalit people and their lives through his art of story writing and poetry, which is why his place in Dalit Hindi literature is quite celebrated, although most of the readers will be more familiar with his autobiography, Jhoothan.
In Maharashtra, his words took the shape of poems
Born on 30 June 1950 in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Omprakash’s writings got the edge in Maharashtra. Poet Loknath Yashwant says, “Omprakash Valmiki was shaped by Maharashtra and its Ambedkar-Dalit politics. In Uttar Pradesh, he was exposed to traditional narrative epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These were only Rama and Krishna and the Hindu gods. It was in Maharashtra itself that he understood the importance of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the contribution of the Dalit Panther Movement and the tradition of Dalit autobiographies in Marathi.”
It cannot be refuted that Omprakash Valmiki was a stone that dropped from a mountain and fell into a river in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra came along with it, and when this stone reached the shore, it was turned into a shining marble. I had read Omprakash Valmiki’s first poem, “Thakur Ka Kuan,” and after reading it, I saw that Valmiki Sahab had presented the full core of the philosophy of exploitation in a few lines, which would have taken thousands of pages in a book. “Sadiyon Ka Santap,” (1989), “Bas! Bahut Ho Chuka,” (1997), and “Ab Aur Nahi,” (2009) are his three poetry books.
Omprakash Valmiki’s literature has strengthened the Dalit movement in the North, his poems have become companions of the struggle and life of the Dalit people.
Omprakash Valmiki’s ‘Thakur ka Kuan‘ is a story of have-nots
James Edwards, a student of Hindi studying in Australia, writes about the poem Thakur Ka Kuan, “Valmiki has very skillfully described the drudgery of daily rural life from the Dalit perspective. And he has done so without using a single verb.”
The poem Thakur Ka Kuan narrates the relationship of exploitation between an exploiter (upper caste) and the exploited (Dalit). The power dynamics between them are such that in the end the exploited is left with nothing to call his own. He has no source, no capital to call his own.
There is one such poem of Valmiki saab titled “Tab tum kya karoge?”
“yadi tumhen,
dhakelakar gaanv se baahar kar diya jae
paanee tak na lene diya jae kuen se
dutakaara-phatakaara jae
chilachilaatee dupahar mein
kaha jae todane ko patthar
kaam ke badale
diya jae khaane ko joothan
tab tum kya karoge,”
Making a poem questionable, yet preserving its poetry, Omprakash Valmiki has done such a feat in literature, although only the people of the community can imagine how much pain he must have gone through while writing this.
Poems about the people who are far more humane than others
“Ve bhookhe hain
par aadmi ka maans nahin khaate
pyaase hain
par lahoo nahin peete
nange hain
par doosaron ko nanga nahin karte
unke sir par
chhat nahin hai
par doosaron ke liye
chhat banaate hain,”
Omprakash Valmiki was very familiar with the hunger of the Dalit community because he had lived with this hunger. Despite this, people in the community never became violent towards anyone. The Musahars of Bihar were forced to eat rats but they did not hurt any savarna for a better life. Although tolerating injustice is not the only way, even during the rebellion, Dalits have not hurt any savarna.
Dalits who are considered ‘dirty,’ are far more humane than other beings because even in the most difficult circumstances, they never resort to violence by losing their humanity.
Baba Saheb had laid the foundation of non-violent movements which the Dalits of this country have not forgotten to date. A lot has been written on the poverty of Dalits but Valmiki Saab wrote about their virtues, this poem is an introduction to the fact that the Dalits who are considered ‘dirty,’ are far more humane than other beings because even in the most difficult circumstances, they never resort to violence by losing their humanity.
Dalit Poetry is the way to seek justice
Killing of Dalit children, sexual exploitation of Dalit women, and burning of Dalit settlements are so common in this country that no one faces a wrinkle. The increasing cases of atrocities against Dalits—with a total of 33,655 cases in 2012, 39,408 cases in 2013, and 47,064 cases in 2014—show that India does not treat people more than a large section of its population well.
Despite this, the savarnas argue that Dalits should fight on an equal footing with them, and the use of reservation by Dalits is their weakness and injustice to the so-called upper castes. Every poem of Valmiki Saheb raises questions on social injustice and the most important thing is that these poems put the exploiter’s human existence in the dock. Be it showing the plight of Dalits killed for rotis through the poem titled “mutthi bhar chawal,” or talking about the uprooting of caste through the poem “wah din kab aaega.”
Omprakash Valmiki’s poems advocate the revival of the dignity of Dalits and the struggle for it. The language of the poems is not complicated, it is not difficult, it is simple and yet it is impressive. This language style differentiates the poetry of Dalit literature from the savarna caste literature.
Marathi Dalit writer Sharankumar Limbale, says in the context of literature, “Idea of Dalit consciousness is also defined in the way that such a consciousness is educative in nature since it makes the Dalits aware of what they went through in their lives. It is remarkable that a Dalit writes out of social responsibility. It is often to teach, enlighten, or even wake up the less privileged Dalits who do not know how to manifest their lives in writing. A significant thing here is the language used by the Dalits for articulating their thought. We see the style to be so different when compared with the mainstream writings.”
Dalit poetry is a genre of responsibility, it cannot be written only for self-pleasure, it is written to create a collective consciousness, to destroy the savarna monopoly on language and most importantly, it is written against injustice. In this context it would be correct to express that poetry is a sociological reality. It has an institutionalised place within society, plays an important role in everyday social interaction, and promises very real consequences as a site for imagining and interpreting alternative social constellations.
Valmiki Saheb’s poems are poems of consciousness which will continue to exist for years and will continue to be sung from the streets to the Parliament in times of injustice.
News no 12.
Dalit, Bahujan, Minorities Under Attack In India, CPI MP Binoy Viswam On Ujjain Rape Case
CPI MP Binoy Viswam reacting to the horrific rape case with a 15-year-old in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city said women are under attack in India
Written By Abhishek Raval
CPI MP Binoy Viswam reacting to the horrific rape case with a 15-year-old in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city said women are under attack in India. Especially in BJP-ruled states. He further added that the Dalits, Bahujan, and minorities are being targeted in the country, demanding the accused should not be allowed to go free, and strict action should be taken against them.
On Ujjain minor girl’s rape case, CPI MP Binoy Viswam said, “Not only Madhya Pradesh, all over the country, the women are under attack. Dalits, Bahujan and minorities are under attack. This is the case all over the country. Wherever the BJP is in power, like Madhya Pradesh, it happens in large size. What we learn from Madhya Pradesh is that a small girl was raped… It is not an isolated case. We demand that such kind of rapist should not be allowed to go free. They should be booked…”
Auto drivers responsible for the brutal rape
The girl, around 12 years of age, was found bleeding on a street located under the Mahakal police station area in Ujjain on Monday. After being found, she was taken to a hospital, where her initial medical examination confirmed that she had been raped, police have said. The girl on Wednesday was operated upon by a team of specialist doctors in Indore and her condition is said to be critical but stable, they said.
The victim walked for 2.5 hours without any help
The Ujjain rape case has sparked nationwide outrage and raised questions over the morality of citizens who refused to help a sexually assaulted minor. The case dates back to September 25 when a 12-year-old girl was raped in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and forced to walk eight km for 2.5 hours after locals refused to help her. A disturbing video from Ujjain which surfaced on social media showed the bloodied girl walking semi-naked.
According to the information, the victim girl had met six people at different places. Out of these, four were auto drivers and two were pedestrians. After interrogating three auto drivers, the police reached the fourth auto driver who was found tampering with the evidence inside his auto. He had also tampered with the number plate of his auto. The officials informed that the prime accused’s phone was also switched off for the last 24 hours. The accused confirmed the truth during the interrogation and was thus identified.
Courtesy : Republic World
News no 13.
Seoni News: Dalit family buying scrap was stripped and dragged on the road, video of the fight goes viral on social media.
Seoni, A video of assault on a Dalit family has surfaced in Gorakhpur village of Chhapara police station area of the district. It is alleged that some accused who came in a Bolero vehicle, roamed from village to village and beat up a Dalit family buying scrap goods.
Reported by Jitendra Bhardwaj, Edited By Akash Sikarwar
When they protested, the accused started beating the father and both the sons fiercely. Before the villagers could understand anything, the accused had stripped all three. The accused beat him fiercely and started dragging him on the road. By the time the villagers could reach the spot, the accused fled in the Bolero vehicle. Chhapara police has registered the case and started searching for the accused.
Courtesy : Nav Bharat Times.
News no 14.
Born Dalit: Always in and out
There is no real coming out in caste
Rajesh Chavda
On September 23, 1917, Bhimrao Ambedkar cried like a baby under a tree in Vadodara.
As the newly appointed military secretary of the Baroda state, Ambedkar moved to the city of Vadodara. But nobody would rent him a house because he was an “untouchable”. He eventually had to lie about his caste identity to the owners of a Parsi inn to get a place to stay. But when it was discovered that he was Dalit. he was attacked by his Parsi neighbours.
He later recounted that he “wept bitterly. After all, I was deprived of my precious possession – namely my shelter.”
I grew up in a village just 40 kilometres away from Vadodara. My parents still live there.
How much has casteism changed since 1917?
I now live in the UK, where I work as a corporate lawyer. I visited my parents for two weeks in August.
I have two brothers. They were not as lucky as I have been and were unable to study beyond high school. Since they found it difficult to find good jobs, I set up a photocopying business for them in 2004.
After speaking with a few people to get ideas about potential gaps in the market, we decided to set up a stationery shop in a neighboring town. I started looking for a shop to rent there.
I found three shops. When I went to negotiate with the owners of the first two shops, I did not want my caste identity to become a hurdle so I told them I was a corporate lawyer in the UK and that I was going to finance the business. Both quoted me an exorbitant amount of rent.
When I went to see the third man, I changed my approach. I did not tell him what I did for a living.
That meant, however, that he did not have a basis on which to try to form a bond of trust. So he immediately looked for another potential source of familiarity: he asked me about my caste identity.
I chose the safer option. I told him I was Chavda, a name that is used by members of both “pure” and “impure” castes.
“Oh!” he said. “We are of the same caste! I have nothing to worry about.”
I got the lease – only because I lied about my caste identity.
This was not the first time I have had to do this.
In 2015, when I moved from London to Delhi to join one of India’s top law firms, I rented a flat in one of the city’s poshest parts of the city so that we could be as close to my daughter’s school as possible. While in a conversation about our neighbours with someone familiar with the building, he suddenly warned, “Don’t be friends with the flat on the second floor – they are from a scheduled caste.”
Here was a person who lived in one of the city’s most affluent neighbourhoods who thought a Dalit did not deserve the friendship of a person from a privileged caste. I wondered if they would have rented me a flat if they had known my caste identity.
Although I was a partner with one of the country’s top Indian law firms, I did not have the courage to reveal to him that I too was from a scheduled caste.
It always feels unnatural, unwarranted and imposed when I have to identify myself as Dalit. Because caste identity is an artificial construct. The caste system does not need to exist.
However, growing up in an Indian village, there was no escape from my imposed identity. Everyone in the village knew what caste I had been born into.
But when I was away, where people didn’t know me, I always lied when they asked me about my caste.
When I went to study at National Law School in Bangalore, there was again no escape as I had received the benefit of reservations as a Dalit. I assumed that everyone knew my caste identity because of the way our names were listed in the register of students.
Thus, until I was 22, I was mostly out as Dalit against my will.
When I started working in Mumbai and later in London and Singapore, a comforting cloak of anonymity descended. When people asked me about my caste identity, I mostly lied – although I worried about being found out.
On social media and in my articles, however, I have been open about my caste identity. But this openness has often made me anxious.
I continue to lie about my caste identity in situations where I foresee a disadvantage in revealing that I was born Dalit.
Thus, there is no real coming out in caste.
It’s always in and out.
I had a conversation about this recently with a friend who was born Dalit. He is a very successful executive at a major global corporation and works in Europe.
He has changed his last name as he does not want people to know of his caste position.
When we discussed the dilemmas of revealing our caste identity, he asked why we would willingly bring this curse of the Hindu order upon us.
I am crying dry tears as I write this on September 23, 2023 – 106 years after Ambedkar cried like a baby in Vadodara.
Rajesh Chavda is a corporate lawyer in the UK.`
