09.07.24.UT News.(Untouchables News).Chennai.26
Next door neighbour, a WB cop, threatens Dalit small business owner, files ‘false’ criminal case
This is about an incident of continuous threat, harassment, intimidation and subsequent false implication in a criminal case. The victims of continuous ill treatments belong to Malo, a scheduled caste community of West Bengal. They are father and son duo, Ganesh Halder, aged 70 years, and Pintu Halder, aged 35 years. Both are residents of village and post Puratan Bongaon, under Bongaon Police Station of 24 Parganas (North) district of West Bengal.
By Kirity Roy*
The perpetrators of these illegal and unjust acts are a serving police constable attached with the Bongaon police station and his wife, who are neighbours of the victims. The victims own a Ghani (oil extracting mill from mustard) and rice and flour huller in the locality. The perpetrators are living behind this mill with many others. The locality has many business establishments and shops.
Though the mill is running for more than 20 years, nobody opposed its function. All of a sudden, three months back, the police personnel started opposing the business activities of Ganesh Mondal. While he failed to gather sufficient support from neighbourhood, conniving with local police station and using his association with the police administration, he implicated Ganesh and Pintu Halder in a false criminal case vide Bongaon PS Case No 452/24 dated 08.05.2024 under sections 354(d)/ 506/509 of Indian Penal Code.
The business activity has permission from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, trade licence from Kalupur Gram Panchayat and no objections from the neighbours.
The offender started humiliating and threatening the victims in public places. The offender intimidated Ganesh and Pintu Mondal by saying that “at the time I am accompanying with the SP and Officer in Charge, I wish to see how your mill will run”. He even verbally abused Ganesh by naming and referring to his caste. The offender referred him by saying “you are fishermen, lower caste and despicable human beings.”
The victims are under extreme mental trauma and distress caused by these verbal abuses, implication in a false case and imminent threat to his livelihood activities. They have made written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Bongaon Police District, with similar complaints to the Sub Divisional Police Officer, Bongaon, and the Inspector in Charge of Bongaon Police Station. But no corrective measures have been taken.
The victims are under extreme mental trauma and distress caused by verbal abuses and implication in false case
In our fact finding, it was proved that the serving police constable attached with the Bongaon Police Station and his wife are trying to stop the mill by using his post at police station. We have also documented necessary papers obtained by the victim mill owner. Local neighbours also corroborated the fact.
These acts by a public servant attracts offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989’s section (viii) false, malicious or vexatious suit or criminal or other legal proceedings against a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe’; secion (ix) giving false or frivolous information to any public servant and thereby causing such public servant to use his lawful power to the injury or annoyance of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe; and section (x), intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view.
The Director General of Police, West Bengal, has been requested to take immediate action against the offenders under above mentioned sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and make independent investigation on the false criminal case slapped against the victims, belong to Scheduled Caste community.
Further, the victims must be provided with adequate security and safety and their business activities must be duly protected.
*Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM). This article is based on the author’s representation to the the Director General and Inspector General of Police, West Bengal
Courtesy : Counterview
UP: Police constable gets life imprisonment for sexually exploiting Dalit woman colleague
The case began in 2017 when Yadav and the victim were both posted at a police station in Ambedkar Nagar. During this time, they allegedly developed a relationship.
Lucknow. A local court in Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh has sentenced police constable Raju Yadav to life imprisonment for sexually exploiting a Dalit woman colleague on the pretext of marriage. The victim was 24 years old at the time and committed suicide in 2019.
Raju Yadav (40) was last posted in Varanasi. On Friday, the court found him guilty under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 376 (rape) of the IPC as well as charges of violation of the SC/ST Act. Yadav, who was out on bail, was taken into custody and sent to jail after the verdict.
The court fixed Saturday as the date for pronouncing the sentence, Ambedkar Nagar government lawyer Sudeep Mishra said. Raju Yadav was brought to the court from jail, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case began in 2017 when both Yadav and the victim were posted at a police station in Ambedkar Nagar. During this time, they allegedly developed a relationship.
On September 23, 2019, the victim’s body was found at her government residence in Ambedkar Nagar along with a suicide note that accused Yadav of forcing her to commit suicide.
The victim’s father further alleged that Yadav sexually exploited his daughter on the pretext of marriage, but later refused to marry her due to his family’s opposition to his caste.
Technical education in colonial India ignored Dalit dreams. It trapped them in labour
The attempt to bring the lowest castes into the fold of education — and at the same time contain them within the labouring fold — is a theme across India’s history.
VANDANA MENON, (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
New Delhi: At the turn of the 20th century, the principal of Roorkee Technical College — now IIT Roorkee — visited Lucknow on a curious mission.
He was investigating why graduates from the Lucknow Industrial School, established in 1882, were not joining factories. The entire point of these institutions, set up by the British colonial administration in Lucknow and Roorkee, was to train labourers to work in factories like mills and on construction sites for railways and canals. But many graduates from the Lucknow School were choosing not to continue as labourers, and factory enrollments were low in India.
What the Roorkee principal found is that the Dalit and subaltern students — the very student body these schools were training to trap in labour — were not coming to these schools to become skilled labourers.
They were coming because they dared to dream of a better life for themselves.
This was the theme of historian Arun Kumar’s recent talk at New Delhi’s India International Centre. At the discussion titled Silent Rebellions and Labouring Dreams in Colonial India, Kumar addressed a packed room of around 50 academics, students, and IIC regulars — including subaltern studies stalwart Shahid Amin. It revolved around the history of technical education in India, and how it left out an important nuance: the aspirations of workers themselves.
“This is the story of the democratisation of education, but from below,” said Kumar. “The words are mine, but they’re reflecting the labourer’s practices.”
Using an array of archival sources, Kumar presented his thesis on why the Indian working class is looked down upon the way it is today. Due to a lack of 20th century scholarship on their lives and dreams beyond labour, one doesn’t know anything about them, and writes them off as ‘stupid’ and ‘illiterate’.
Students of the Lucknow School became crucial labour during World War One. The school had reopened in 1901 under a new British principal, who, in a bid to boost enrollments, reintroduced a literary component to educate and not just skill labourers. Students from this school produced ammunition for the British Army during the war, but their contributions were completely forgotten by history.
“The colonial myth about the working class has been appropriated by the scholars of today,” said Kumar. “My work tries to move away from this understanding of a worker as a labouring body who doesn’t do anything else. Is there something beyond the life of work that we can find in their working lives?”
Audience members drew a straight line between his thesis on technical education in the past to modern educational practices today. From the emergence of engineering as a specialised field to the debate around merit and the skill drive in India currently, there seems to be a framework to make education more specialised and vocational.
“The real question is: have we come that far from what he’s talking about? Or is this just repackaging of the past?” an audience member remarked.
What history tells us
The attempt to bring the lowest castes into the fold of education — and at the same time contain them within the labouring fold — is a theme across India’s history.
“If education was democratised, the fear was that there will be a social revolution,” said Kumar.
An 1897 editorial from the Kanpur Gazette captured this anxiety. After listing a range of misfortunes and social evils — like poverty — that India is exposed to, the writer continued that he was “of the opinion that these issues are caused by the spread of education to the lower classes…General education is thus the root of all evil.” Workers should therefore “stick to their hereditary positions after their education,” the editorial continued.
The basic conundrum was that society at large believed that certain castes were destined to labour, and shouldn’t rise beyond that. The solution was to create education that would contain them: this led to the creation of industrial and technical education, which was skill-based.
Testimonies from Protestant missionaries also highlight this. According to Kumar, one missionary wrote that he thought Dalits came to missionary schools to emancipate themselves from a tough life of labour.
Kumar went on to quote other sources, such as the chairperson of the Millowners Association, who characterised workers as ‘stupid’ in 1929. “He learns as little as we ensure his pay, and there the improvement ends,” he had declared.
Merit vs potential
Given the abysmally low literacy rates in colonial India, the fact that the working class was enrolling in night schools to learn has completely slipped under the radar of Indian history.
But this, is in fact, what was happening: in Bombay, workers were spending all day on the factory floor and then bathing, dressing, and attending classes at night. The first free night school for millworkers was established in 1874. According to Kumar, between 1886 and 1890, 2,750 workers enrolled in night schools. In 1917, a free working-class library was set up for millworkers and railway workers. By 1919, the chawls of Bombay had around 50 night schools with a daily attendance of 1,200-1,500 students.
“This shows that there is an effort on the part of the working classes to sacrifice their sleep and go to school,” said Kumar, a historian of modern India with an interest in socioeconomic and labour history. He is currently teaching at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
Why were workers interested in literacy? Both Kumar and the audience talked about how it was probably because they were citizens of a rapidly changing world. This was the period when cities like Bombay and Lucknow were becoming industrial behemoths, when the railways and postal services were revolutionising India.
Kumar’s guess was based on economic historian Morris D. Morris’ work on India, which noted that the average literacy rates among workers went up from 40 per cent in 1940 to 42 per cent in 1955.
Hem Borker, from the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jamia Millia Islamia, moderated the talk and highlighted the vision of how the elite embarked on this educational enterprise to essentially create more labouring bodies.
“The relevance of this talk is that education seems to have come full circle, which is interesting,” said Borker after the lecture.
She pointed out how the modus operandi was to first extricate skills from a certain social status. This meant that certain jobs were kept reserved for the ‘upper’ castes, while technical jobs were left to artisanal classes.
“It’s like what’s happening today. The debate around merit is basically about someone’s cultural capital. But the capital of the lower castes is seen as not worth knowing. So what is worth knowing?”
However, some people were able to use their education to articulate their dreams.
Kumar read out Chaar Shabd, a poem by the famous Marathi worker poet Narayan Surve. Surve was an orphan raised by millworkers who eventually joined the factory floor and made a name for himself as a poet.
“Bread’s my first love, I agree, but I need something more,” wrote Surve in his poem. “I haven’t arrived alone; the epoch’s with me/Beware; this is the beginning of the storm/I’m a worker, a shining sword/Listen, you intellectuals! A crime’s about to happen.”
Courtesy : The Print
Youth beaten to deathover land row in Arwal
Patna: A Dalit youth was allegedly killed by having a noose tied around his neck in a village in Arwal district on Monday. His body was found hanging in the cowshed behind his home. Family members alleged the murder stemmed from an old dispute with a local villager. The incident occurred at Satpura village under the jurisdiction of Sadar police station.
The deceased, identified as Nilesh Paswan (20), was found by family members who went to the cowshed for fodder. They raised an alarm, prompting locals to assist in taking down the body. The family suspects the murder is linked to a longstanding dispute.
Sadar SHO, Ali Sabri, said forensic teams had visited the spot and collected samples. Dark marks were observed on Nilesh’s neck, and his body was sent for a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death. The family has lodged a complaint against Manohar Sharma, a local villager.
“There had been a dispute over land between Manohar and the deceased’s family for the last two years,” said the SHO. “The deceased’s mother lodged a complaint at the SC/ST police station regarding the matter, leading to ongoing tension between the parties. While police investigations are underway, no arrests have been made. The family alleges Nilesh was strangled with a rope before his body was hung. Further investigation is ongoing, with raids are being conducted to arrest the accused,” he added.
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Courtesy : TOI
BIHAR CASTE DALIT NEWS NEWS STATE
Youth beaten to deathover land row in Arwal
Patna: A Dalit youth was allegedly killed by having a noose tied around his neck in a village in Arwal district on Monday. His body was found hanging in the cowshed behind his home. Family members alleged the murder stemmed from an old dispute with a local villager. The incident occurred at Satpura village under the jurisdiction of Sadar police station.
The deceased, identified as Nilesh Paswan (20), was found by family members who went to the cowshed for fodder. They raised an alarm, prompting locals to assist in taking down the body. The family suspects the murder is linked to a longstanding dispute.
Sadar SHO, Ali Sabri, said forensic teams had visited the spot and collected samples. Dark marks were observed on Nilesh’s neck, and his body was sent for a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death. The family has lodged a complaint against Manohar Sharma, a local villager.
“There had been a dispute over land between Manohar and the deceased’s family for the last two years,” said the SHO. “The deceased’s mother lodged a complaint at the SC/ST police station regarding the matter, leading to ongoing tension between the parties. While police investigations are underway, no arrests have been made. The family alleges Nilesh was strangled with a rope before his body was hung. Further investigation is ongoing, with raids are being conducted to arrest the accused,” he added.
Hathras stampede: Bhole Baba’s villagers praises him, amid ongoing investigationLearn about the Hathras stampede and the residents’ support for Bhole Baba. Discover the preacher’s background and his stance on donations. Find out about the ongoing police presence at his ashram in Mainpuri.111465355
Murder plot suspect hacked to death, another killed over family disputeTen men hack suspect to death in Pune near eatery. Former corporator detained. Police searching for more suspects. Separate murder over family dispute. Stay updated on the ongoing investigations.111443988
R Parthiban lodges a police complaint against his ‘Teenz’ star ahead of the film’s releaseLearn about the latest controversy surrounding R Parthiban’s upcoming film ‘Teenz’ as he files a complaint against the graphics supervisor for delays. Get insights into the mystery thriller scheduled to hit theaters on July 12 with teenagers playing key roles.111511130
Courtesy : TOI.
‘Was warned BJP is anti-Dalit party’: Karnataka BJP MP Ramesh Jigajinagi’s outburst
Jigajinagi, while speaking to the media in Vijayapura, criticised BJP’s preferential treatment towards upper caste members over Dalits in cabinet appointments.
Published Jul 09, 2024 | 7:57 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 09, 2024 | 7
Senior Karnataka BJP leader Ramesh Jigajinagi (X)
Senior BJP leader from Karnataka and seven-time MP Ramesh Jigajinagi has voiced dissatisfaction over his exclusion from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.
Jigajinagi, a prominent Dalit leader, expressed his disappointment while speaking to the media during the inauguration of the MP’s office in Vijayapura.
“I don’t need the cabinet post. I need people. When I returned (to the constituency), many people cursed me. Several people argued that they had cautioned me about the BJP being anti-Dalit,” the dismayed Bijapur (SC) MP told reporters.
He said that despite the opposition from the Dalit community for aligning with the BJP, he had joined the party.
Jigajinagi criticised BJP’s preferential treatment towards upper caste members over Dalits in cabinet appointments. He claimed that all the upper castes were given ministerial posts.
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‘All upper castes given ministerial posts’
“There is a pressure from the people (for the cabinet post). Is it justice or injustice? In the entire South India, I am the only Dalit leader to have been elected seven times (for the parliament),” the BJP leader said.
“Everyone from the upper caste became (the cabinet ministers). Haven’t the Dalits supported the BJP? I am deeply pained,” Jigajinagi said.
Quoting South First’s post on Jigajinagi, renowned journalist and author Ravish Kumar on Tuesday, highlighted the rarity of such open criticism within the BJP.
“After a long time, such a voice has come from within the BJP. Even a seven-time MP did not get a chance in the cabinet. An MP speaking up is a bigger issue than this,” Kumar said in his post on X in Hindi.
Jigajinagi is a seven-time parliamentarian, who won three consecutive elections from Chikkodi (SC) constituency and four times from the Bijapur (SC) segment. He has never lost the parliament elections in his over four-decade-long political career.
(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj, with inputs from Nolan Pinto)
Rahul Gandhi Shares How YS Rajasekhara Reddy Inspired His ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ On Party Veteran’s Birth Anniversary
In a video message on the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s 75th birth anniversary, Gandhi said that he was a true leader of the masses.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said his over 4,000 km Kanyakumari to Kashmir ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was inspired by party veteran Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s 2003 foot march across Andhra Pradesh.
In a video message on the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s 75th birth anniversary, Gandhi said that he was a true leader of the masses and his grit, dedication and commitment to the upliftment and empowerment of the people of the state and India has been a guiding light to many.
“I personally learnt a lot from Rajasekhara Reddy ji. My ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was inspired by Rajasekhara Reddy ji’s yatra across Andhra Pradesh. I remember the visuals of Rajasekhara Reddy ji walking through the heat, walking through the rain and walking with the people of Andhra Pradesh,” said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
“We took some of those ideas and merged them into our ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’,” added Gandhi, who led the over 4,000 km ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which passed through 12 states and two Union territories between September 2022 to January 2023.
In 2003, Reddy had undertaken a 1,400-km padyatra in Andhra Pradesh. He had led the Congress to a resounding victory a year later, defeating the incumbent Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Hailing Reddy, Gandhi said that he was a person who lived for the people of Andhra Pradesh.
“It is a tragedy that we lost him and I am absolutely certain that if he was here today, Andhra Pradesh would be a completely different place, it would not be facing the tragedies and the difficulties, it is facing. (YS) Sharmila ji is his daughter…I am confident she is going to take forward Rajasekhara Reddy ji’s legacy and she is going to do it because she has the same sentiment, the same tenacity, the same grit and the same affection and love for the people of Andhra Pradesh that he had,” the former Congress chief said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also hailed Reddy on his 75th birth anniversary.
“A compassionate and visionary leader, he dedicated his life to the welfare and development of Andhra Pradesh, leaving an enduring impact on the lives of its people through his innovative schemes and programmes,” Kharge said.
“In remembrance, we cherish his legacy and pay our homage to a leader who will always be adored for his unwavering commitment to the people,” he said.
Courtesy : Outlook India
A staunch Buddhist in a remote Nagapattinam village
N. Rajendran, a dalit, also known as Buddha Rajendran, has dedicated his life to spreading the teachings of Dr. Ambedkar and Buddha in Nagapattinam district
Published - July 08, 2024 05:59 pm IST - NAGAPATTINAM
N. Rajendran along with the Buddha statue inside the vihar in Kilvelur | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
N. Rajendran, a dalit, also known as Buddha Rajendran and head of the only Buddhist family following in the footsteps of B.R. Ambedkar in his Buddhamanagalam village, Kilvelur taluk, had recovered an ancient Buddhist statue and built a temple for it four decades ago.
Mr. Rajendran has dedicated his life to spreading the teachings of Dr. Ambedkar and Buddha. Mr. Rajendran developed reading habit since his childhood, which eventually introduced him to the works of Ambedkar. Reflecting on his journey, he said: “I held on to Ambedkar and decided to live a life in accordance with his words.”
சாதி இந்துக்களுடன் மோதலில் எஸ்சி இளைஞர் படுகொலை; எட்டு கைது
வெளியிடப்பட்டது - ஜூலை 08, 2024 09:33 pm IST - திருச்சி
திருச்சியில் உள்ள திருவளர்சோலையில் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை ஜாதி இந்துக்களுக்கும், எஸ்சி மக்களுக்கும் இடையே நடந்த மோதலில் 24 வயதான ஜெ. நெப்போலியன் என்ற பட்டியலின சாதி இளைஞர் கொல்லப்பட்டார்.
லால்குடி அருகே அகலங்கநல்லூரில் சனிக்கிழமையன்று இரு பிரிவினருக்கு இடையே ஏற்பட்ட தகராறில், சாதி இந்து சமூகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த பி.நாகேந்திரன் (24) என்பவர் அதே சமூகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த கல்லூரி மாணவி ஒருவரிடம், தன்னை திருமணம் செய்து கொள்ள விரும்புவதாகக் கூறியபோது, மோதல் ஏற்பட்டதாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது.
