04.02.2025..Untouchablity News.....अछूत समाचार.தீண்டாமை செய்திகள்.by Team சிவாஜி. शिवाजी .Shivaji.asivaji1962@gmail.com.9444917060.asivaji1961@gmail.com.facebook.sivajiyogatiruvannamalai.X.ShivajiA479023.
Dalit girl brutally murdered in Ayodhya, eyes gouged out, body found in horrific condition without clothes
Dalit Girl Brutally Murdered in Ayodhya: The case of finding the naked body of a 22-year-old Dalit girl in a village in Ayodhya has shaken the entire area. The girl was missing since Friday evening and this morning her body was found near a drain outside the village. The family alleges that the girl was raped and then murdered.
By Sorit Chaudhary
In fact, the family had already informed the police about the girl’s disappearance. It is alleged that no concrete action was taken by the police. In the morning, when the family found blood-stained clothes in the fields, their suspicion was confirmed. After that, the girl’s body was found near a drain outside the village.
The victim’s father said, “We came to know at around 12 o’clock that our daughter’s clothes were lying in the fields. When we reached there, we recognized them. Then someone told us that there was blood in the school too. Then we were convinced that our daughter was killed. We want justice from the police. The person who has committed this heinous crime should be caught as soon as possible.”
Police officer CEO Ashutosh Tiwari said, “We received a complaint about the missing of a 22-year-old girl. We launched a search operation and the body was recovered. The body has been sent for post-mortem, and further action will be taken based on the report.”
On the other hand, the family members say that the police have only given assurances so far, but no strict action has been taken. There is a lot of anger in the village about this incident. People are demanding justice and accusing the police of negligence.
Chandrashekhar Azad of Bhim Army and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party have also expressed deep concern about this incident. Chandrashekhar Azad tweeted that this exposes the insecurity and inhumanity prevailing in the society in a horrifying way. He has demanded that quick and strict action be taken on this heinous crime.
Akhilesh Yadav also called the incident sad and demanded strict action against the culprits. Along with this, he also raised the demand of compensation of Rs 1 crore to the victim’s family.
Courtesy : Hindi News
CM Yogi attacks on the murder of Dalit girl in Ayodhya, called MP Awadhesh Prasad’s crying a drama… said this big thing
Ayodhya News: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Faizabad (Ayodhya) Awadhesh Prasad cried in front of journalists on Sunday while speaking about the alleged brutal murder of a Dalit girl, but UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called it a drama of the MP. Chief Minister Yogi claimed that some brutal person of SP will definitely be involved in this case. Police in Ayodhya district on Saturday recovered the naked body of a missing 22-year-old Scheduled Caste (SC) girl, who was brutally murdered and her eyes were gouged out. Family members alleged rape before the murder and claimed that the victim’s eyes were gouged out, her bones were broken and there were deep wounds on her body.
Edited By Anil Kapoor,
SP MP Awadhesh Prasad wept bitterly in front of reporters
According to the information received, after learning about the incident, Awadhesh Prasad reached the victim’s house to meet the victim’s family. Overcome with emotion, he wept in front of reporters and said, “I failed to save her.” His colleagues consoled him and urged him to stay strong and fight for justice. During a press conference, Prasad said, “Let me go to Delhi, Lok Sabha. I will raise this matter in front of (Prime Minister) Modi. If we do not get justice, I will resign.” The senior Samajwadi Party leader raised the question as to how such a heinous crime could happen, referring to Lord Ram and Goddess Sita. He said, “What will history say? How did this happen to the girl?” His supporters assured him that he has been chosen to fight for justice.
Some or the other beast of SP will definitely be involved in this case: CM Yogi
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raised this matter in his address during an election rally in Milkipur assembly constituency of Ayodhya on Sunday. Yogi said, “An incident has happened with a daughter in Ayodhya. When the investigation goes to the lower level, then remember the drama that their MP is doing today, some or the other beast of Samajwadi Party will definitely be found involved in it too.” Yogi accused SP of committing crime and hooliganism. Voting for the by-election on Milkipur assembly seat of Ayodhya will be held on February 5 and counting of votes will be done on February 8. Milkipur seat has fallen vacant after Awadhesh Prasad was elected MP from Faizabad seat in the Lok Sabha elections last year, where SP has fielded his son Ajit Prasad as a candidate.
Know, what the police has to say?
Police said that the victim was missing since Thursday night when she allegedly went out to attend the Bhagwat Katha. After this, her family had to search a lot. The victim’s brother-in-law found her body lying in a small canal just 500 meters from her village on Saturday morning.
Priyanka Gandhi gave her reaction on this incident, know what she said?
Reacting to this incident, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’, “The kind of barbarism that was done to a Dalit girl who went to listen to the Bhagwat Katha in Ayodhya will make any person’s soul tremble.” She alleged, “Such cruel incidents shame the entire humanity. The girl was missing for three days but the police did nothing. In the BJP’s jungle raj, there is no one to listen to the cries of Dalits, tribals, backward and poor.” The Congress leader said in the same post, “The Uttar Pradesh government has become synonymous with atrocities on Dalits. I demand that strict action should be taken against the culprits who committed atrocities as well as the responsible policemen and officers.
Courtesy : Hindi News
‘…then the Dalit daughter of Ayodhya would have been saved’, eyes gouged out, bones broken, body found without clothes; story of brutality
A girl went missing from a village in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on January 30, whose body was found on Saturday in a canal 500 meters away from the village without clothes. The girl’s eyes were gouged out and bones were broken. She was brutally murdered. In this case, the family had accused the police of negligence. Now the police have arrested three accused. They killed the girl in a school in the village and threw her after tying her hands and legs.
An incident came to light on Saturday from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which will make anyone’s heart tremble. A Dalit girl was brutally murdered in Ayodhya. The girl’s body was found in such a condition that people got goosebumps on seeing it. The 22-year-old girl was first raped, then she was brutally murdered and the body was thrown in the canal without clothes.
The body of the girl was found naked in a canal by her brother-in-law. That too was found about 500 meters away from their village. The girl’s eyes were gouged out. Her bones were broken. A stick was inserted in her private part. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes and then she was thrown away. This is such an incident that even hearing it makes the soul tremble. A girl who was murdered so brutally.
Three accused arrested
In this case, the police arrested three people on the basis of CCTV footage and information, who are being questioned. Revealing on this matter, SSP Raj Karan Nayyar said that the names of the three accused include Hari Ram Kori, Vijay Sahu and Digvijay Singh. The three accused murdered the girl in a school in the village under the influence of alcohol. After this, the body was thrown near the drain.
She went missing on January 30
The police will take the three accused on remand. Four teams were deployed to solve the blind case. Actually this case came to light from a village in Ayodhya Kotwali area, where a 22-year-old girl went missing on Thursday. She had gone from her house to see Bhagwat Katha, but she did not return home even till 11 pm on January 30. After this, the family started looking for the girl. They searched for the girl all night.
Blood marks and clothes
When the family was searching for the girl, they found blood marks and the girl’s clothes. They informed the police. The police came and took photographs of the marks and clothes, but even after 24 hours, the girl could not be found. Then on Saturday morning, the people of her house again went out to search for her. Meanwhile, they saw the girl’s body in the canal.
The body was found with hands and feet tied
Her body was seen by her brother-in-law at a distance of about 500 meters from their village. The family told that all the clothes were missing from her body and her hands and feet were tied. The family told that the girl’s body was taken out of the canal. The girl was murdered very brutally. Family members said that her hands and legs were broken. Her eyes were gouged out. She was stabbed in many places on her face and body with a blade. A stick was inserted in her private part, due to which she defecated.
Politics heats up on the issue
Politics has also heated up on this issue. Statements from SP to Congress and BJP have come out on this issue, where Rahul Gandhi attacked the administration, while SP leader Awadhesh Prasad was seen crying in a press conference after meeting the victim’s family. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “Remember the crime committed against the Dalit daughter in Ayodhya. When the investigation goes to the bottom, the name of some person from SP will come out.”
Courtesy : Hindi News
Slurs hurt too: Review the blind spots in anti-caste law
A Dalit woman and a Muslim man had an affair. The man’s mother opposed their marriage, hurling caste-based abuses at the Dalit woman. Bombay High Court recently ruled that no offence is caused under Sections 3 (1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act known in short as the SC/ST Act or the PoA, because the insults were not made in public view. The law often deploys the public-private divide to exempt the state from its responsibility to redress individual injuries emanating from social inequalities. For example, until the passage of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005, the state could easily ignore domestic violence against women as a private and personal matter in India.
Sumit Baudh
Remove private-public divide
While ‘the personal is political’ had long emerged as a slogan in the 1960s feminist movements in the US, when the contemporaneous civil rights movements in the US protested racially segregated ‘White Only’ lunch counters, the lunch counter owners claimed private ownership of their premises as a basis for their freedom to deny service to coloured people. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 famously discarded these ideas of the public-private divide. The Constitution of India also espouses the idea of non-discrimination in private places. Article 15(2)(a) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them in access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment. Despite this explicit constitutional provision, also known as the enshrinement of horizontal equality in India, legislators and judiciary have been mostly reticent about advancing the full realisation of its potential.
Toll of slurs
The SC/ST Act ignores the psychological effects of humiliation caused to the abused persons. The delivery of caste-based slurs in private, muttered venomously, snarled under the breath, grumbled inaudibly, or hissed quietly can cause immense psychological injuries to the abused. The Act must place the abused at the centre of its attention and redress their injuries. The surrounding circumstances (of public places and views) should not be discounted but rather considered exacerbating factors in gauging the severity of the offence. Matters of love, sexual intimacy, and marriage are historically and contemporaneously recurring sites of caste-based inequalities. This is because caste operates and survives on endogamy. Even just a quiet breakup of a platonic friendship with a Dalit person only because of their caste can be psychologically devastating. The opposition to marriage with a Dalit person because of their caste, combined with caste-based abuse at the very moment, inflicts intense levels of psychological pain and humiliation that could last a lifetime.
Lessons from Mahabharata
In the Mahabharata, Draupadi laughed aloud when Duryodhana, accidentally slipped and fell to the floor of her palace. Even though he was not blind, Draupadi called Duryodhana “blind son of a blind father” only because his father, Dhritarashtra, was blind. The palace was not a public place, yet the offence caused to Duryodhana at this moment became the core motivating sentiment for him to order the public disrobing of Draupadi later. A chain reaction followed, exploding into a brutal war that destroyed almost all its characters. In an alternative retelling of this story, rather than sulking silently and harbouring deep feelings of ill will toward Draupadi, Duryodhana could voice his hurt feelings at that moment. Draupadi could acknowledge the offence caused by her flippant remark and apologise, thereby averting a crucial link to the impending doom.
Power of apologies
Neither Mahabharata nor contemporary law in India recognise the significance of acknowledgement and apology as means of conflict resolution. When the amendments to the SC/ST Act were being formulated among Dalit groups before 2015, a well-known human rights activist, Martin Macwan, suggested that there should be a provision for apology to resolve the complaints. While some people in this group were wary of the more dominant caste groups threatening the subordinated caste group complainants into accepting their facile apologies, the provision of apology could not be incorporated into the draft amendments because the formal legal doctrinal underpinnings of criminal law pitch the accused against the state. This rules out any formal legal possibility of the complainant’s role in resolving the conflict.
Acknowledgement, apology, public-private divide and other legal blind spots must be reviewed in anti-caste legislation for the law and state policies to foster harmonious relations among all its people.
Baudh teaches at O P Jindal Global University. Views are personal.
Courtesy : TOI
5
Caste of Dignity: Ambiguity & Emotional Emancipation
The deliberate sagacity to subordinate the inferior non-dignified castes in the socially hierarchical rigid structure governing the dynamic politics became reportedly visible when the government appointed upper caste seven-term MP Bhartuhari Mahatab by snubbing the eight-time Dalit MP Kodikunil Suresh as the Pro-term Speaker in newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha by following principles of Westminster model.
SUMIT KUMAR BHARTI
New Delhi- Does dignity have any caste? What are the emotional and cognitive impact of the constitutional principles of positive affirmative actions on the young generation of students, after their first point of contact with the practicalities of reservation, in the milieu of ferociously savage competition for admission or state employment, without making them familiar with the philosophies and essentialities of equal protection of law in hierarchically stratified society?
The relegated Dalits have from the centuries ingrained the depraved debasement of caste degradation and humiliations to the extent of relegating them to a perpetual web of exploitation and subordination. The dehumanisation of their human existence due to astutely constructed lower strata in social construct has become a sense of common sense for their whole gamut of perseverance of life philosophy leading them into the crisis of contemplations. How does this feeling of generational low esteem self, guide the destiny of dignity of young girls and boys in a closed caste circumference with simultaneous existence of high caste pride and dignity of genealogy reflected in the egoism of excellence of imperiousness of substantial success?
The Derrida notion of deconstruction advocates that the human language is not yet developed to convey the real senses of human expressions, however, this paper contends to deconstruct the notion of dignity and cringworthiness related to caste and reservation on the opposite end of spectrums, focusing on the contemplation of young women, without getting into legal discourses.
Diwas Raja Kc, in his visual archive ‘Dalit- A Quest for Dignity’ elucidated that the “Dalit is not a caste that one inherits but rather an identity that one constructs”, as an empty, passive, voiceless mass of poor. India @75 still struggling to find the answer to why all the manual scavengers and menial workers are from the lower castes who are grabbed of dignity and why the maximum Judges of the higher judiciary, top secretaries of states and Union government and corporate houses are from the higher social strata, apart from the stereotyped trivial mention of existential castes. The two small instances bring two distinctive experiences of contemplation from two young women of Delhi University, taking their final semester exams to gain a degree in political science honours.
The first one claimed that she has superior genes of the Rajput clan so she is capable of fighting and winning against every odd. The second one asked the question of why no government post-independence had done anything for the welfare of the ‘general category men’ despite they being the good vote bank and still suffering in the absence of any welfare measures for them. One of the oddly occurring incidents during my lectures at college for women, was when I was having ‘deceit of duty’ of teaching and instead tried to learn new things from my students by engaging them in informal talks usually provoking them to narrate their journey and experiences.
The common complaint of many young ladies in that college was that they wished to pursue their degree from some highly reputed colleges of North Campus like Mirinda House or The Hindu College, but since they belong to the general category, so despite having good marks in CUET they have landed here. The student sitting next somewhere regrettably however courageously proclaimed that she wanted to join Delhi University colleges for a degree and since she had reservation, so she got admission easily. No rational mind can compartmentalise these statements into black and white, neither can prove these two young students completely wrong, however, the difficulty lies in proving their assertions utterly right. These three are not the exceptional insistence of self-esteem but the simplistic assertion of the narrative paradigm of the larger gamut of common sense of ‘general-upper category sense of dignity’ and insincerely enforced ‘reserved-lower caste sense of regret’.
Suman Lata Pathak in her study of ‘self-images of Scheduled Castes girl’s students of Chandigarh’ in the book titled “Struggle for Status” published in 1985, empirically noted that the “The Scheduled Castes, because of constant subjection to humiliation and having been given inferior status are bound to have a low self-image”. Without any astonishment, an Uber cab driver driving an air conditioner vehicle on the streets of the national capital often complains that he is doing this because all the ‘good education and government employment’ has been taken by scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SCs/STs), while contradictory to this a three-wheeler E-Rickshaw driver belonging to deprived castes crush his destiny and poverty with special mention of lack of education and any employment due to inaccessibility and unaffordability.
Let us first try to address why reservations for women. The first girl school by Savitri Bai Phule in Poona was ‘an upper room with the doors shut’ to avoid the persecution from the lawmakers in society those has privileged the Dwij castes men the monopoly over education and established the Gurukuls since the Vedic ages for proliferation of exclusivist education, that’s why we now have a women reservation Act from Parliament to Panchayats, and not the men reservation Act, to uplift the former to narrow the gap with the latter.
Alec Fyfe in his work of 2005, ‘Compulsory Education and Child Labour’ designates India as the country having the largest population of child-labours. Fyfe also analysed the effect of caste and sex matrixes on the phenomenon of these ‘nowhere children’ employed in child labour and concluded that “a boy from a non-poor upper caste family has a 75% chance of attaining the eighth grade while a girl from a poor scheduled-caste family has virtually no chance of reaching the fifth grade”. The situation has not transformed even after two decades and poor women from all sections of society and men from the SCs/STs are prime targets of negative discrimination.
For instance, as per the World Bank estimates, 80 per cent of all employment losers due to COVID-19 were women and 62 per cent of them are above the age of 30 years with insignificant future prospects of returning to the workforce. There is no proper study to ascertain the social background of migrant labourers who suffered the blot of lockdown, however, given the socio-economic correlations in India, it is not difficult to assume that most of them were from the deprived social castes.
Carol Hanisch’s ‘Personal is political’ reverberates in the daily lives of women, where access to political power remains obstructed or delusionary as in the case of proxies of women at panchayats- Sarpanch Patis holding the real power, the dynamism at the top level are not radically different. The 17th Lok Sabha just have 14.4% of women members and the upper house encompasses even lower (10.71%) women members. The newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha will have 73 women members, one lower than the 17th Lok Sabha despite the passage of the Women Reservation Act- the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (yet to be implemented) and many State parties offering tickets to women constantans are per their own prescribe percentages.
Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi in their study of 2013 titled ‘Women Voters in India Democracy: A silent revolution’ question the charisma of India’s representative democracy when “65 million women around 20% of eligible voters are missing from the India’s electorate’s”. The economic disparity, unfortunately, as per the International Labour Organisation report -2019, is starker than the socio-political outlook.
The Gender wage gap in India is the highest in the world where women are paid 34% less than their women counterparts. The scenario in rural India is more pathetic, where women despite comprising around 42% of the agriculture labour force, as per the India Human Development Survey, own less than merely 2% of farmland. The rural realities of Dalit women, specifically are as inevitably present in today’s society as reflected by Sharan Kumar Limbale in his Akkarmashi- the autobiographical account published in 1978.
The stratified urban landscape of progressive modernisation also compelled Dalit women to hide their castes to get an equitable workspace, as reflected in Yashica Dutt’s memoir ‘Coming Out As A Dalit’.
Two quotations by George Orwell, the renowned English Novelist need simultaneous reading, quotes that “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows” and another being that “if liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”. In India, we historically have a direct parallel association between the low economic status and lower caste social paradigm, failing the economic determinism of Karl Marx, as here caste determines both economic and political credentials, which has also engulfed the other religious denominations other than the Hindus. This is the reason why caste, and not class was chosen as the basis of reservation in the original constitutional scheme of things.
However, the social forces of caste hierarchies are so significantly potent that the original schemes of quotas- the word which has acquired a derogatory connotation in majoritarian discourses of orthodoxy by calling reserved category candidates as Quota’s candidates or ‘Quota’s children’ have been firstly extended to OBCs and later to EWSs by subsequent constitutional amendments. The societal intellectual hierocracy can be ascertained by the fact that the introduction of OBC quotas has generated widespread opposition and agitations, while the implementation of EWS quotas generated no heat and was readily accepted by the forces which are traditionally opposed the quota system. The logical and valid argument for the EWS reservation was that it did not alter the quotas already allocated to SC/ST and OBCs.
Let’s take a simple mathematics to understand the representative democratic logic of ‘who’s participation, so much her share’:
Let us suppose there are 100 seats for a particular admission or employment, 50 seats are reserved for the already reserved categories, and the remaining 50 seats are unreserved- popularly known as general seats or seats for the higher castes. Now the EWs reservation simply allocates the 10 seats to the relatively deprived and improvised among those 50 general seats. This means 10 seats will go to the poorer among the general category and the remaining 40 to the non-poor unreserved candidates, without disturbing the former 50 reserved seats and this was unanimously welcomed by all the holders of power as the most essential measure towards an egalitarian and advanced society.
The same constitutional logic applies to the reserved quota seats, where they contend on the proportionality low numbers of seats reserved for them based on their proportion of the population, without disturbing the non-reserved seats. After all, democracy follows the authoritative allocations of values of education and employment and these are public goods, not the private property of any specific group of society, to be allocated on the principles as enshrined in the constitution of India. Thus, if any person from the reserved category has been allocated a government seat after the due competition in her domain, it’s not by the mercy of the state or sympathy of general castes, but because she is entitled to the same being a foundational member of society and state.
Professor N. Sukumar in his seminal work “Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities: A Critical Reflection” surveyed 600 Dalit respondents across Indian Universities to re-establish the concept of ‘Cultural Capital’ of Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu defines it as “non-material resources which may be passed on from generation to generation to preserve power and privileges, that may include non-material goods like educational credentials, type of knowledge and expertise, verbal skills and aesthetic preferences”, leading to, in Professor Sukumar terms, ‘accumulated caste privileges’, thus perpetuating inequalities at the subconscious cellular level.
Sumeet Mhaskar while reviewing the “Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India” by Ajantha Subramanian, has noted the violent history of this perpetual process of caste accumulation in Indian Society where the upper caste religiously guarded the domain of education to systematically exclude the lower castes and women from gaining any access to education, thus deploring them to eternal darkness of ages.
Professor Sukumar explains the quotas syndrome in today’s educational setup by taking the evidence from the Ambedkar journey of school education through his concept of ‘Caste Habitus’, the influence of caste on students/ Individuals cultural, social and economic outlook guiding their attitudes and performance, for instance barring few exceptions, non-Dalits by default have their internal groupings during schools and colleges, segregating and outperforming the Dalit students.
However, paradoxically if a daughter of a reserved category officer becomes an I.A.S., she is disgracefully demeaned and questioned why she has taken the benefit of reservation when she has all the facilities at her disposal, the case of UPSC CSE-2015 topper Tina Dabi is a strafing reminder of the certified casteist mindset of the society, even when she was continuously proving her metal from being ‘student of the year’ in her prestigious Lady Sriram college to topping her training batch at LBSNAA. The same society, however, takes pride if a daughter of a high caste doctor becomes a doctor or a son of a temple priest takes his job eruditely reserved for him for centuries.
I have conducted a silent study of the academic behaviour of class students in 1ST Semester Political Science (H) at Kamala Nehru College for women by observing the phone calls and WhatsApp texts. About 90 per cent of phone calls and texts regarding academic or co-curricular work were from the general category students. These were also the same students who remained active participants during class discussions and never hesitated to approach their teacher (rightly so) for any confusion or doubts and often outperformed others in visible excellence.
This subconscious excellence is credited to their determined hard work but also added by their cultural capital. However, the semester-end examination, where you have to work hard at your place and put your brilliance of mind on paper at the examination hall, could not show any noteworthy difference between the performance of reserved and non-reserved students. The satisfying thing about women students is that they have diminishing contempt for fellow Dalit students, nevertheless, they retain and often acclaim their higher social status whenever required or desired supported or even sponsored by a few caste-minded academic intellectuals.
The controversial-seminal work of French sociologist Louis Dumont ‘Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications’ categorically established the fact that the caste is not only a system of social stratification or division of labour but a closed ideological system based on the civilisational proclaimed notion of pollution and purity, in stark contradiction to progressive ethos of the democratic egalitarian constitution of post-colonial India.
The constitution has provided progressive affirmative policies of positive discrimination in terms of reservation in government educational institutions and the employment domain, which is obviously visible. The contradiction is, however, visibly hidden socio-political and economic realities prompting the negative discrimination towards the poor, marginalised and deprived subaltern sections hardly become the subject matter of mainstream discourses and deliberations. The annual NCRB report- 2022, quantifies this negative discrimination in increasing rate of crimes against women, Children and SC/STs.
The political power and offices of authority drive not only the destiny of society but minutely influence the flow of individual life and livelihoods. The minuteness of caste dynamics at the larger socio-political canvas can be effortlessly ascertained by the fact that the maximum members of the constituent assembly were from the dignified castes, that till no prime minister of the Indian republic belonged to SC/ST and only a handful of Chief-ministers were from the purported Dalits, and till now there is no Dalit head of RSS or VHP, the most potent Hindu organisations.
The deliberate sagacity to subordinate the inferior non-dignified castes in the socially hierarchical rigid structure governing the dynamic politics became reportedly visible when the government appointed upper caste seven-term MP Bhartuhari Mahatab by snubbing the eight-time Dalit MP Kodikunil Suresh as the Pro-term Speaker in newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha by following principles of Westminster model.
Shikha Mukerjee in her paper titled ‘Politics of deep divides, prejudices & reservation’ alleged this as a deep divide in “social prejudices, justice and a dynamic interpretation of equality”. Dr Ambedkar called Villages a den of ignorance; however, it is an astonishing fact to reconsider that staking 41.14%MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha and 33% in the 18th Lok Sabha are from the profession of agriculture. The understandable factor is the largest demographic coverage and the maximum number of electorates in rural India; however, the collaborative coalition of Bullock Capitalism and Caste domination remains the open secret behind such an algorithm of hegemonic domination of higher castes having a monopoly over ‘dignity’.
The Economic inequalities preserve the prevalence of ancient socio-economic realities in 21st-century modern India denying constitutional justice and its principles of prudence. Amit Thorat & Omkar Joshi in their 2015 paper ‘The Continuing Practices of Untouchability in India: Pattern and Mitigation Influences’ defines the Indian Caste system as one of the “Longest survival system of stratification in the world”.
A recent paper by Jyoti Thakur and Prabir Kumar Gosh titled ‘The Shadow of Caste’ examined the consumption patterns within the social groups of SC, ST, OBC and general category using Periodic Labour Force data from 2017-18 to 2022-23. As per their findings in 2022-23, the STs which constitute 9 % of the population have a consumption share of only 7%, the SCs accounted for 20% part of the demography have a consumption share of 16%, the OBCs which constitute 43% part of population shares 41% of consumption and the leftover general category which constitutes 28% of the population commands a notably higher consumption share of 36%.
The Oxfam International Inequality Report -2019 concluded that in India upper-caste households earned 47% more than the national average household income. This disproportionate consumption pattern gets transformed into the concentration of wealth both social and economic among high-caste elites, which shapes the Hierarchical-Intellectual Hegemony of the current generation.
As per many studies like ‘Inequality in Contemporary India: Does Caste Still Matters?’, more than 60% of SCs and 70% of STs are engaged in daily wage agriculture labour in rural India and unskilled or low-paid semi-skilled occupations in the informal sector.
The constitution as curated by the Dr Ambedkar envisioned the caste-based reservation for ten years to bring parity in the graded society. This temporary provision of affirmative action of caste-based reservation has been eternalised further by class-based and gender-based reservations. The original notion of reservation which was intended to remove social distinction, however, consolidated in perpetuity, the compartmentalisation of the society on the lines of Quotas.
The emergence of Dalit-Brahmins or Dalit-elites who have sidelined the maximum benefits of reservation leaving their fellows as impoverished and deprived as they were historically, has led to the demand for the categorization and subsequently exclusion of the creamy layer from SCs/STs reservation, so that the indented advantage can percolate the bottom layer of the society.
Reservation as a political apparatus towards egalitarianism, with political leaders banking their political imminent on the politicization of their caste, without the parallel social construct of equality will only create fissures in an already divided society. The critical analysis of Japan’s experience of the abolition of untouchability against Burakumins (pollution abundant) under the Emancipation Act of 1871 following the banning of feudalism, where despite the legal prohibition without the much-needed social stimulation, the Burakumins or Eta’s (full of filth) are yet to be completely assimilated in their modern society, offer a case study to India’s Scio-political establishments.
The struggle for survival and prosperity is an internal part of the Indian way of life, the difference is only of degree and nature on the gamut of caste lines, not of the substance. The subconscious feeling of dignity of high caste and beggarly contemptibility contrarily associated with the caste and reservation should be eliminated to promote the sense of egalitarianism and esteem, what Ambedkar calls for an ascending sense of reverence and descending sense of contempt.
India being an ancient land of civilisation provides ample opportunity for several groups and social arrangements to develop and flourish, resulting in every single caste having a grand legacy to take pride in, a research domain for subaltern historians, fast proliferating into the phenomenon of ‘rediscovering dignity’, where every caste now celebrating the tales of their heroes and Virangnas (women warrior’s) like Jhalkaribai.
The developed India@ 47 shall be free from the reincarnated notion of pride in caste, for that society and state need to dismantle the falsehood prevalent concerning reservation by igniting constructive debates on the discourses of the reservation to make it compatible with contemporary socio-political realities.
In India Ambedkar called for the Annihilation of Caste along with other progressive Hindu reformers advocating unity within the society on equality of an individual with individuals, and Constitution abolishing the untouchability, however, the caste system has shown uninterrupted resilience because it provides not only the material privileges to the elites but the spiritual and psychological containment with emotional emancipation.
Precisely this is why youngster from deprived social identity make counter-currents to establish their self-esteem by invoking ancestorial heritage and asserting it through songs, social media and public display, many a time producing friction and social skirmishes. Thus, the dismantling of the mindset of caste-based emotions of pride, the virtue of worthiness and the cognitive superior self is imperative to have evocative deliberations on the reservation, not only to find out answers to questions of young minds but to offer a considerable resolution.
The imperative is to make our young generation in our schools and colleges inculcate the constitutional philosophies and virtues of freedom fighters, to imbibe the spirit of comradeship and fraternity, to ensure that they can associate ‘Dignity’ with determined-destined actions free from what Sigmund Freud called ‘obsessive-compulsive disorder’, of castes, class or gender.
-The author is a Senior Research Fellow and adjunct faculty, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi.
Courtesy : The Mooknayak
6
‘Telangana caste survey essential, govt’s handling of data to be seen’: Sujatha Surepally
Academic and activist Sujatha Surepally welcomed the impending introduction of the Telangana caste census in the Assembly, while noting that some caste groups are wary of the legitimacy of the data.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
Welcoming the Telangana government’s move to release its caste survey report, academic and activist Sujatha Surepally noted that there are reasonable concerns over potential shortcomings in the data, and the feasibility of increasing reservations for Backward Classes (BC) in the upcoming local body elections without legal hurdles.
Sujatha, who is the Head of the Department (HOD) of Sociology at Telangana’s Satavahana University, said, “BC reservations and Scheduled Castes sub-categorisation both depend on this survey. Both sections are eagerly awaiting the survey results.”
On February 2, Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy shared the preliminary findings of the Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste Survey carried out by the state government in November and December 2024. BCs (excluding Muslims) form 46.25% of Telangana’s population, the survey found.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
Telangana caste survey: BCs comprise 56% of the state’s population
The report is set to be tabled in the Assembly during a special session convened on February 4. On the same day, a single-member Judicial Commission of retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akhtar will also submit its report on the sub-classification of SCs to the Telangana Cabinet sub-committee. The sub-committee was formed to implement the Supreme Court order of August 2024, which affirmed states’ right to sub-categorise SCs listed in the Presidential List to provide some of them with greater preferential treatment in public employment and education.
The survey also recorded details of sub-castes, land and property ownership, income, education, migration, debt, and inter-caste marriages. So far, only the broader caste-wise composition of the population (SCs, BCs, Scheduled Tribes, Open Category, as well as Muslims) has been revealed by the government.
“There are groups who say that only the nationwide decadal census [carried out under the Census Act] is authentic and reliable. Those advocating for SC sub-categorisation have said that the survey has not reached all households,” Sujatha said.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
MRPS announces cultural demonstration on Feb 7 seeking reservations
In the initial days of the survey, which was launched on November 6, there were reports of several residents being reluctant to share their details, and doubts were raised on the quality of the data. A few BC associations have demanded that the government conduct local body elections with increased reservation only after covering the remaining households, particularly in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other urban areas.
Officials said that most people in rural and semi-urban areas eventually ended up participating in the survey, with the Greater Hyderabad region seeing the least participation. According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, the survey has covered 96.9% of the state’s population.
Sujatha recalled the Samagra Kutumba Survey (Intensive Household Survey) carried out in one day by the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government in 2014, which also gathered caste data from individuals after declaring a holiday to facilitate the data gathering. However, the findings were never released.
“When KCR did the Samagra Kutumba Survey, there was resistance from some sections who said that this was not a legally binding, authentic census. That data was never used for policy making,” Sujatha noted.
“We are all in an unequal, caste-ridden society. Caste data is crucial for all reservations and social welfare schemes. All research statistics and empirical data are difficult to measure in India, since we have a huge population with several groups.There’s always a limitation,” she said.
However, she commended the Revanth Reddy government for completing and releasing the caste census as promised during its poll campaign. “At least some government has come forward to conduct a survey. In the absence of any data, if some numbers are out, it is a welcome step. They may not have covered all households, but they might have adequate representative sampling … we will get to know more once the survey is released,” Sujatha said.
Before launching the recent survey, Telangana government officials visited Bihar and Karnataka, where caste surveys have been completed in the recent past. The Bihar government’s report showed that 63% of the state’s population were OBCs and EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes). Based on this, the state Assembly passed legislation to increase reservations for EBC, OBC, SC, and ST communities from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs, in November 2023.
However, the Patna High Court declared the 65% reservation unconstitutional, a verdict later upheld by the Supreme Court, on grounds that the report couldn’t demonstrate any exceptional circumstances for breaching the 50% cap on reservations.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
Telangana caste census begins: Why an end to 50% quota cap needs to follow
Before sweeping to power in Telangana in 2023, Congress had promised to increase BC reservations in local bodies from 23% to 42%, and to implement 42% BC reservation in government civil construction and maintenance contracts. The upcoming local body polls are expected to be held only after implementing the increased BC reservation.
A black and white photograph of Sujatha Surepally wearing a striped collared shirt and a dupatta draped over her shoulder. She has long, dark hair, a small bindi on her forehead, a nose piercing, and earrings. She is smiling softly, and the background is blurred with lights and architectural elements visible.
BC leaders demand 42% reservation in Telangana local body elections
“Legal hurdles are likely, as there is often opposition from dominant castes against reservations for marginalised groups. That is the challenging part for the government — what stand it takes and how it justifies its data and decisions,” Sujatha said.
She called on the government to use the comprehensive data collected in the caste survey, combined with all the extensive citizen data available with various departments, to provide better, targeted opportunities to marginalised groups.
“Governments claim to be technologically advanced, and say they use technology for good governance. But they don’t seem to converge all of these segregated data, from ration cards, Aadhar, NREGS, labour department, Anganwadis, etc. for targeted interventions. We cannot always wait for the decadal census,” Sujatha said.
She also called on the government to look at the gender component of the caste data while designing policies, stressing that benefits must reach women as well.
Courtesy: The News Minute
7
Dalit residents demand martyr status for 1978 Villupuram violence victims
Their demand comes in the wake of the recent inauguration of a memorial for martyrs who died in police firing in 1987 Vanniyar reservation protest in the district.
Krithika Srinivasan
VILLUPURAM: In a demand for justice and recognition, dalit residents of Valudareddy, GRP street and other parts of dalit residential areas in Villupuram have called upon the Tamil Nadu government to officially declare the 12 victims of the 1978 Villupuram caste violence as martyrs.
Their demand comes in the wake of the recent inauguration of a memorial for martyrs who died in police firing in 1987 Vanniyar reservation protest in the district. VCK General Secretary and Villupuram MP D Ravikumar has publicly urged the government to validate the agency of dalits in the history of this land.
The caste violence in Villupuram, which occurred on July 25, 1978, was allegedly a brutal and premeditated attack by caste Hindus on the dalit community, that killed 12 people from the Schedule Caste community who were mainly hawkers and labourers.
The people who were killed were identified as Mani Kundu, Selvaraj, Mannangatti, Veerappan, Thirumal, Kathavarayan, Ramasamy, Arumugam, Sakthi, Rangasamy, Sekar, and Irusammal. A memorial stone is laid at the entrance of GRP street for them.
The then Chief Minister M G Ramachandran-led state government dismissed the violence as an “anti-social act” rather than a caste-based atrocity. The District Collector of South Arcot, P S Pandian submitted a report on July 31, 1978, downplaying the massacre, and the government accepted the report.
Speaking to TNIE, professor of journalism at Madurai Kamaraj University, J Balasubramaniam said, “Even an inquiry commission, led by R Sadasivam, which later documented the systematic nature of the attacks, failed to bring justice for the victims. Findings from the Sadasivam Commission revealed that the massacre was planned in advance.”
According to a report by D David in his book ‘Villupuram Padukolai 1978’ – on July 24, 1978, a caste Hindu shop owner had closed his shop in preparation for a bandh the following day. Violence broke out soon after a clash between a few people over alleged harassment against a dalit woman, in the market.
By July 25 and 26, violent mobs had torched Dalit homes, looted their belongings, and brutally attacked residents. As many as 12 individuals were hacked to death, some were burned together, and others were thrown onto railway tracks and into the Marudur Lake.
Decades later, the continued lack of a memorial for the 12 dalit victims stands in stark contrast to the government’s recent move to commemorate other historical events. Many residents in the district, along with various social justice activists, argued that the selective recognition of historical tragedies exposes the deep-rooted caste bias in the state’s approach to justice.
Dalit scholar Chandru Mayavan argued, “The government’s willingness to recognise some victims of violence while ignoring others sends a troubling message about whose lives are deemed valuable. Victims of Melavalavu violence, Thamirabarani firing, Keezhvenmani massacre, never had the chance of being called ‘martyrs.’ But the government will build memorials to please the intermediate caste people, and pay tribute to their caste leaders every year.”
A Gunanidhi, a 35 years-old resident of GRP street said, “The state is supposed to protect the lives of all people but somehow always dalit deaths are clearly ignored. Police firing is one form of state violence while caste is also a long, densely practised violence that the state has not controlled and let many dalit people lose their lives for it.” Agreeing with the demand, Vikravandi MLA Anniyur A Siva told TNIE, “It is their right to demand and the state must take efforts to fulfil them.”
The violence has left scars till date and dalit traders in the Old Market area continue to face severe discrimination, with caste Hindus systematically denying them fair opportunities to conduct business.
Vasugi Bhaskar of Neelam Publications told TNIE, “News reports indicate that Dalit vendors are frequently harassed, prevented from setting up stalls, and denied access to resources available to other traders. We are still unable to see a dalit business owner in the market area because of the dark effects of the 1978 violence, before which many dalits living in the adjacent GRP street area used to run shops.”
Meanwhile, Nather Shah, a member of the district Home Guard said, “The memories of dalits being killed and disposed of in the Marudhur lake still haunts the people living there. It has left a dark scar among the oppressed community and it is only today, after generations of education and employment that they are able to demand for a recognition of the victims which is a fair demand.”
Courtesy : TNIF
Dalit disillusionment in Delhi: AAP’s declining support, unfulfilled promises, and BJP’s strategic outreach ahead of assembly polls
As Delhi gears up for the upcoming assembly elections, a sharp shift in the political landscape is emerging, particularly among Dalit voters—once a steadfast pillar of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) electoral base. This critical demographic, long perceived as a reliable ally, is increasingly exhibiting signs of disillusionment due to unmet expectations and a growing sense that the immediate relief measures or “freebies” have overshadowed the need for sustainable, structural reforms.
While populist strategies, such as targeted subsidies and welfare schemes, have traditionally provided short-term relief, the inadequacies of these transient measures have become evident in the failure to address the deeper socio-economic challenges confronting Scheduled Caste (SC) communities in Delhi and beyond. Against this backdrop, the upcoming elections and the political commitment to Dalit welfare take centre stage in the debate—contrasting AAP’s performance with BJP’s emerging approach—which further fuels the discourse between transient populist incentives and long-term programmatic policies.
Disappointment among Dalit communities
The dissatisfaction among Dalit voters stems from unfulfilled promises and a perceived neglect of key community issues. Historically, prominent Dalit groups like the Ravidassia and Jatav communities backed AAP, but recent resignations by Dalit leaders from the party signal a broader loss of trust.
Sanitation workers, who form a substantial portion of the Dalit workforce, have expressed disappointment over the government’s inability to provide stable employment and improved working conditions. The promise of Rs 1 crore compensation for families of sanitation workers who lost their lives on duty remains largely unfulfilled, further deepening the sense of discontent. Additionally, the outsourcing of jobs that were previously reserved for Dalits has exacerbated economic insecurities within the community.
Beyond employment concerns, civic infrastructure remains a pressing issue. After a decade in power in Delhi and two years of controlling the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), AAP faces criticism over deteriorating infrastructure, unaddressed garbage disposal issues, and the failure to regularize ad hoc employees, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds.
Neglect of Dalit-dominated areas
In Dalit-majority areas, frustrations with governance are palpable. Residents of Nai Basti, a Dalit-dominated colony in South Delhi’s Deoli, have voiced their disappointment with the local AAP MLA, citing unfulfilled promises and a lack of developmental progress. Similarly, in Shahabad-Mohammedpur in West Delhi’s Bijwasan, the Scheduled Caste community faces acute water shortages during the summer months. The absence of a railway overbridge in the area has led to persistent traffic congestion and safety concerns, highlighting the broader neglect of infrastructure in Dalit-majority regions.
Broken promises in education and welfare
Educational initiatives aimed at Dalit upliftment have also suffered setbacks. In Punjab, for instance, the AAP government delayed the implementation of the Centre’s Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes, creating barriers to educational access for SC students. Such delays have caused unnecessary hardships for beneficiaries, undermining the intended impact of these programs.
BJP’s outreach: Representation and welfare initiatives
In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has actively sought to engage with Dalit voters through targeted welfare measures and grassroots outreach programs. Recognizing the growing dissatisfaction with AAP, the BJP has focused on initiatives designed to restore trust and provide tangible benefits to the community.
A notable initiative includes the “B.R. Ambedkar Stipend Scheme,” which offers a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 to SC students enrolled in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), skill centres, and polytechnic colleges. Additionally, the BJP has pledged free education from kindergarten to post-graduation for underprivileged students in government institutions. Other welfare measures include a dedicated board for taxi and auto drivers, affordable meal schemes for slum dwellers, and life insurance plans. Furthermore, the regularization of 4,400 sanitation workers under Home Minister Amit Shah’s leadership reflects the party’s responsiveness to Dalit concerns. With initiatives such as Matru Suraksha Vandana, Atal Canteens, and the PM National Dialysis Programme, the BJP aims to enhance healthcare, nutrition, and financial relief for marginalized communities.
Beyond welfare policies, the BJP has strategically fielded Dalit candidates in general constituencies, moving beyond traditional caste-based electoral calculations. This approach aligns with Pitkin’s theory of representation, which emphasizes both descriptive (representation by identity) and substantive (representation of interests) aspects. The party’s decision to field Dalit candidates, notably Deepti Indora from Matia Mahal and Kamal Bagri from Ballimaran—both Muslim-majority constituencies—demonstrates an evolving electoral strategy centred on performance and popularity rather than rigid caste alignments.
Shifting sentiments confirmed by surveys
A recent survey conducted by the National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations (NACDAOR) and The Convergent Media underscores AAP’s declining appeal among Dalit voters. According to the findings, 44% of Dalit respondents intend to vote for AAP, marking a decline from 53% in the 2020 elections. The survey highlights growing concerns over employment, sanitation, and education, reinforcing the broader sentiment of discontent within the community.
After a decade in power, AAP faces mounting criticism over its governance approach, particularly in Dalit-majority areas such as Valmiki colonies, where residents have accused the party of playing vote-bank politics. The exclusion of priests from Valmiki and Ravidas temples from an honorarium scheme has only fueled these frustrations. A common refrain among residents is that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not visited their communities in years, further amplifying perceptions of neglect.
Freebies vs. Programmatic Politics
AAP’s governance model has heavily relied on welfare measures such as free bus rides for women, subsidized electricity, and free water supply. While these initiatives provide short-term relief, critics argue that they fail to address deeper structural issues. For instance, while free bus rides reduce transportation costs for daily commuters, they do not resolve the underlying challenges of overcrowding or inadequate maintenance of public transport systems.
Many voters now question whether these policies serve as genuine developmental strategies or merely as short-term vote-catching tools. A disillusioned former supporter articulated this frustration: “You can’t keep enticing people by giving free stuff. We need jobs, not just free electricity.”The failure to effectively balance populist measures with long-term developmental policies has exacerbated dissatisfaction, particularly in Dalit-majority areas where infrastructure and economic opportunities remain stagnant.
The road ahead
As Delhi approaches the upcoming elections, Dalit voters stand at a crucial crossroads. Their growing discontent with AAP’s governance model presents an opportunity for opposition parties to offer alternative solutions that address long-standing grievances. The BJP’s outreach efforts and welfare initiatives may resonate with sections of the Dalit electorate, potentially altering electoral dynamics in key constituencies.
The election will not only shape the political trajectory of Delhi but also serve as a broader indicator of how political parties engage with marginalized communities. For Dalit voters, the choice ahead involves evaluating past governance records against promises for the future, determining which party is best positioned to address their needs and aspirations.
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Backward classes form majority of Telangana's population: Caste survey
The survey reveals that Scheduled Castes make up 17.43 per cent of Telangana's population, while Scheduled Tribes account for 10.45 per cent
 "Dalits, Scheduled Caste, SC, Protest")
The caste survey was a key electoral promise of the Congress party in Telangana’s 2023 elections. | Representational Image
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